CACHOEIRAS DE MACACU, Brazil — Gesturing across the still, green water reflecting the backdrop of forest-clad mountains, Nicholas Locke told of the time when this flourishing wetland was once a barren pasture after being drained, cleared, and used for cattle grazing. Over the last five centuries, much of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has suffered a similar […]
Tag: Brazil
Brazil’s Pantanal is at risk of collapse, scientists say
PANTANAL, Brazil — We cruised the murky brown shallows of the Corixo Negro, the Black Channel, in an open boat, scanning the hyacinth-choked waters and low-hanging tree branches for wildlife. Dozens of jacaré caimans (Caiman yacare) sunned themselves on the shore or lurked partially submerged. A blue-and-russet ringed kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata) dove for a meal […]
Trouble in the tropics: The terrestrial insects of Brazil are in decline
In 1978, when he moved to his current home on the rural outskirts of Campinas, Brazil, Thomas Lewinsohn, a professor of ecology at Campinas University, routinely encountered a “rewarding assortment of insects” at night, he writes in a new paper in Biology Letters. Today, Campinas, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from São Paulo, is a booming […]
Nearly 600 Dead Penguins Washed Up in Brazil After Deadly Cyclone
Over 600 penguins washed ashore in Brazil after a deadly cyclone hit the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina last week. Around 622 penguins washed up on the beach, and a heartbreaking 596 of them were dead. Heartbreaking images were released of the dead penguins lying lined up on the sand. The subtropical cyclone tore […]
Man Creates Bird Paradise Outside of His Home in Sao Paulo
After losing his job, 53-year-old Marcelo Maximo built an outdoor paradise for the birds around his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. When he was working outside of his house, he noticed a lot of birds. That’s when he decided to make a birdhouse. “So, out of the blue, I decided to make a birdhouse to […]
Spix’s macaw have made a magnificent comeback in Brazil thanks to an amazing international rescue operation
The outlook for the Spix’s macaw could not have been worse twenty years ago. There are now only a few dozen of this unique parrot species left in cages owned by collectors throughout the world after the last member of the species vanished from the wild. The future looked bleak for Cyanopsitta spixii, to put […]
More Than 17 Million Animals Killed in Brazilian Pantanal Wildfire
A new study supported by Panthera has officially confirmed that 17 million animals were killed in the 2020 wildfires in Brazilian Pantanal. The study helped to conclude just how much wildlife was killed in the widespread fires that burned a quarter of the Brazilian Pantanal. The fires took the lives of an estimated 17 million […]
Loss of forests turns up the heat, literally, on giant anteaters
Giant anteaters are native to the savannas of Central and South America. They forage in the open spaces of the mosaic of forests, grasslands and wetlands, and rest in the more sheltered and covered habitats. That latter part is important: A recently published study shows that giant anteaters are relatively poor regulators of their own […]