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...though it's a bit short of the Amazon's humming ambience and long on buzzing biters. Brazil Photos: the world's largest rodent, the capybara; a typical Pantanal view; a baby tapir.
The Pantanal is a huge 150,000 sq km wet basin located in the central-west of Brazil (northwest of Rio), with Campo Grande as its largest town. Most of the land is occupied by privately owned farms (fazendas) but a 1,350 sq km section has been designated a national park and is known as Pantanal Matogrossense National Park because it's in the state of Mato Grosso. There is also a private nature reserve of 880 sq km in the northeast Pantanal called SESC Pantanal Natural Heritage Reserve. This wetlands area is primarily good for viewing birdlife (over 600 species including many kinds of parrots and macaws) and plants (over 3,000 species), but also offers sightings of animals that don't mind - or even enjoy - getting wet, such as giant snakes, giant otters, giant armadillos, capybara, tapir, caiman (crocodiles), jaguars, panthers, and strangely, wolves. Like the Amazon, the Pantanal ecosystem is also endangered by economic development, burning, deforestation, farm pesticide run-off, uncontrolled hunting, fishing and capture of wildlife for sale. The
rainy season is from December - May during which water levels may rise
by up to three metres.
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Photos: Amazon | Manaus | Iguazu falls | Rio de Janeiro Brazil Travel Guide | Brazil Beaches | Rio de Janeiro Guide | Brazil Map
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