Ask Europeans how palm oil consumption is impacting biodiversity, and many will be quick to list threats to the emblematic orangutan, whose habitat in Indonesia has been drastically reduced by oil palm plantations grown for the international market. But ask those same citizens how the massive amount of soy imported from Brazil to feed European […]
Tag: Brazil
The jaguars fishing in the sea to survive
A thriving population of jaguars living on a small, unspoilt island off the coast of the Brazilian Amazon has learned to catch fish in the sea to survive, conservationists have found. The Maracá-Jipioca Ecological Station island reserve, three miles off the northern state of Amapá, acts as a nursery for jaguars, according to WWF researchers […]
Ecuador’s vanishing jaguars: the big cat vital to rainforest survival
Across the American continent, from the north of Mexico to Argentina, the jaguar has long been revered for its strength and power. But in some parts of Ecuador, the largest cat in South America is increasingly at risk as roads, mining and agriculture take over the rainforests. The loss of habitat is the biggest threat […]
Half a billion bees dead as Brazil approves hundreds more pesticides
Last century, Albert Einstein predicted that if bees disappeared off the face of the Earth, humans would only have four years left to live. The death of these insects on a large scale, seen as apocalyptic at the time, now constitutes a real warning for humanity. Between December 2018 and February 2019, more than 500 […]
Deforested areas bleed heat to nearby forests, drive local extinctions
Areas cleared of forests bleed heat to neighboring forests, and this fuels increases in temperatures there, new research has found. Average temperatures in forests around the world are already rising because of climate change; this leaked heat exacerbates the problem and accelerates local extinctions of forest-dwelling species. “The warming is happening from global climate change […]
Jaguars on Rio Tres Irmaos
Brazil’s Pantanal has over the past few years become the place to see the majestic Jaguar. What appeared to be a very elusive creature, seems to have become more accepting of humans. On a recent trip, traveling from the UK with Naturetrek, we were hoping that we might see one. We were staying for three […]
Jaguars of the Pantanal
Our main reason and target for the trip to Brazil was to get close, personal and sticky with a Jaguar. There is nowhere else in the world where this is possible other than the Pantanal. We were concerned about our bad timing – best season for Jaguar observation is during the dry season in July […]
Brazil Pantanal Day #3 – Fish Fest
Another great day in the Pantanal, despite the increasing mosquito load. The morning boat trip with Pantanal Nature produced another Jaguar encounter, our fifth in total. We intercepted a huge male swimming across the river, just too late before it reached the shore and disappeared promptly into the forest: Again we had breathtaking experiences with […]