The fauna



The fauna of the Pantanal consists of innumerable species. Some are also represented in the neighbouring ecosystems (in the cerrado and the Amazon region), others are endemic and occur exclusively in the Pantanal. The outstanding symbol of the Pantanal fauna is the "Tuiuiú stork", also called "jabirú", a gigantic bird which attracts visitors' attention both with his size and with his colourful appearance (white, black and red). Another animal species that is immediately dependent on this particular ecosystem is the brown caiman (jacaré-de papo-amarelo), which can be found all over the Pantanal and is easy to watch when it sunbathes on the shore of a lake or river - usually in a group of fellow members of its species.

An attentive ear...

...an eager eye, a torch (or flashlight) for nighttime adventures and a pair of binoculars for daytime observations - that is all you need to take away some amazing impressions from this animal paradise. Whether you visit during the dry season or the rainy season, the rich local fauna guarantees animal encounters in almost every place and at any time of day or night. You may have heard that during the dry season animals can be found especially in the vicinity of lagoons. This concentration of animals can also be observed during floods on the more elevated mainland. If you take a boat trip in the rainy season you should scan the shores for drinking animals. 

Mammals

Many different animal species live in the Pantanal. Some prefer the proximity of the water, such as the capibara and the Pantanal deer, others live in it, as the river otters (ariranha). Then again there are species that can only be found in higher regions, such as the anteater (tamanduá) or the veado-campeiro (deer species that prefers the dry campos). The best-known and most dreaded mammal is the spotted jaguar (onça pintada). This successful predator's survival chances are not too good around here, because it is still being hunted by farmers in the Pantanal. The elimination by humans of its natural prey has forced the jaguar to hunt cattle, particularly calves; this, in turn, has led to merciless jaguar hunting.  

Birds

The big waterfowls are usually the first to attract the Pantanal visitor's attention. Herons (garças), darters (biguás) and storks (jabirús) stand out among them. The nests of the Jabirú storks are according to the size of their residents: huge interwoven branches - usually about 2 m in diameter - perched at dizzying heights in the crowns of old trees, which serve as homes for the parents and their young ones. One tree is generally used for several years by a stork couple. It is particularly the waterfowls and the coloured macaws and parrot species which make the region a treasure trove for bird enthusiasts.


The araras azuls (hyacinth macaws), for instance, have almost gone extinct in other parts of Brazil but can regularly be watched in the Pantanal.  The "anhumas" attract one's attention with their shrill warning cries, signalling to the rest of the fauna that there is suspicious movement going on in their habitat. For this reason they are also called the "sentinels of the Pantanal". The variety of birds in the Pantanal is simply extraordinary - more than 690 different kinds of big and small, colourful and noisy specimens can be encountered here.










 

Reptiles


At first sight, caimans and anacondas can give visitors a real scare. However, they can actually be rather delightful if one watches them for a while. As predators at the top of the food chain they are very important for the balance within the Pantanal fauna. The hunting method of the anaconda is particularly interesting: it entangles its prey so tightly that it chokes to death. Cágados (tortoises), jiboias (boa constrictors), jararácas (puff adders) and lagartos (lizards) such as tejús, iguanas and caiman lizards can cross a visitor's path - the latter of which can reach a body length of up to 1,5 m. However, it is not a dangeros animal and (despite its dangerous-sounding name) is not poisonous and always flees when it feels threatened.