Pantanal – Part 1

Brazil – Pantanal | Anno 2018

 

 

 

 

The Mutum River meanders majestically through the Pantanal. A few kilometres further on, it flows into the mighty Cuiabá River

 

It rained heavily last night. Enough to raise the water level by a couple of centimetres

 

But the November rains are still a few weeks away. Then these rivers will overflow their banks and flood the entire area, creating the world's largest wetland

 

If you call the Amazon the lungs of Brazil, then you can call the Pantanal the kidneys

 

This is mainly due to the water hyacinth, the floating aquatic plant that effortlessly removes nitrogen, potassium, lead, mercury and strontium from the water

 

Among water hyacinths, yacare caimans feel at home. They forage for apple snails, their favourite food. They also enjoy fish. Every now and then, a snake or a capybara appears on the menu

 

Adult males grow to two to three meters long. Yacare caimans don't often come ashore. They usually return to the water quickly to escape insects

 

In the Pantanal, the number of yacare caimans is estimated at ten million. A female lays 20 to 40 eggs. The young must fend for themselves immediately after birth. Storks and herons, in particular, consider this a golden opportunity

 

Bony protrusions make caiman skin unsuitable for crocodile leather. Yet, millions of animals have been killed solely for their skins. It wasn't until 1992 that the crocodile skin trade was banned in Brazil

 

Giant otters are much rarer. Worldwide, there are no more than five thousand of them

 

Being active during the day and instinctively approaching intruders makes them easy prey for humans

 

 

 

A tiger heron sits motionless, waiting for unsuspecting prey to appear. This could be fish, grasshoppers, water beetles, dragonfly larvae, or even snakes

 

It is a beautiful bird with its yellow beak base, chestnut brown neck and long white stripes across its neck

 

The tiger heron fearlessly defends its territory. It even comes into conflict with other herons

 

It takes five years for a tiger heron to exchange its rusty brown plumage for that of an adult

 

Another permanent fixture in the Pantanal is the cocoi heron, the largest of all South American herons

 

Once mature, this long-legged wading bird can grow to a height of one metre thirty

 

The cocoi heron forages mainly during the day. In shallow water, it hunts for fish, amphibians, and crustaceans

 

Fish only interest the cocoi heron when they are more than eight inches long

 

The cocoi heron has few natural enemies. Only the crested caracara occasionally targets its chicks

 

 

 

One of the Pantanal's most iconic animals is the capybara. As adults, these rodents weigh between 35 and 66 kilograms

 

A capybara feels at home both on land and in the water. If necessary, it can remain completely submerged for five minutes. A capybara can even sleep in the water

 

Capybaras feed primarily on grasses and aquatic plants. They even eat their own faeces. This helps them digest the cellulose in the grass and extract as much protein and vitamins as possible from their food

 

A capybara can live for ten years, but in the wild it usually dies before it is four. Jaguars, anacondas, alligator snapping turtles, and caimans constantly hunt it

 

The capybara mates exclusively in water. After a gestation period of 150 days, one to eight young are born. The capybara owes its survival to this rapid reproduction

 

Barely a few hours after birth, the very young rodents can already run, swim and dive

 

 

 

In the language of the Tupi people, anhinga means devil bird or snake bird

 

When an anhinga dives into the water, it gets soaking wet. Its feathers don't have the natural oils that make them water-repellent, like a duck's. This makes it heavier, making it easier to dive when hunting for fish

 

But those wet feathers make the anhinga a slow swimmer. It is forced to hunt primarily slow-moving fish species

 

Moreover, it's difficult to fly with wet feathers. So it has to dry them in the sun first. With predators nearby, this makes it vulnerable

 

Its long, pointed beak is very useful to the anhinga. It doesn't grab fish with its mouth, but impales them on its bill and then eats them in a quiet spot

 

Anhingas are monogamous and sedentary. Males and females remain together for life and use the same nest year after year

 

The neotropic cormorant is slightly smaller than the anhinga, but it obtains its food in the same way

 

The neotropic cormorant catches its prey by diving into the water from the surface

 

You often see a neotropic cormorant drying its wings after a dive

 

Yet, like all cormorants, it has a preen gland that it uses to rub grease over its wings – as if to make them water-repellent. Scientists haven't yet figured out why

 

Thanks to its enormous toes, the wattled jacana can walk on floating vegetation. That's why they sometimes call it the Jesus bird

 

The male builds the nest, incubates the eggs, and raises the young. The female defends the territory from intruders

 

Swamp forests and mangroves are the preferred habitat of the grey-necked wood rail. It rarely flies, only when danger threatens will it seek safety on a branch. It is monogamous and stays with its permanent partner year-round

 

 

 

A young black collared hawk looks out over the water. It feeds primarily on fish. Once it has its prey, nothing escapes its large talons – not even a slippery fish

 

The southern crested caracara steals food from other predators and even chases vultures away from dead animal carcasses. It is the second-largest falcon in the world

 

Live animals are also on its menu – rodents, young birds, turtles, lizards. Sometimes several crested caracaras work together to kill larger prey

 

During the breeding season, males compete with each other for females, resulting in spectacular aerial battles

 

The crested caracara prefers to spend time on the ground. With its long legs and flat claws, running is no problem for it

 

Young crested caracaras are paler in colour than an adult bird

 

Only after eight weeks does a young crested caracara leave the nest for the first time

 

Dense, humid forests are not what the crested caracara likes. So the widespread deforestation in tropical South America plays to its advantage

 

The southern lapwing also benefits from the increase in livestock farming. It thrives on open grassland, so much so that it can pose a serious threat to air traffic near airports

 

It is a beautiful bird, with its richly varied colour palette and the bronze sheen on its shoulder

 

Its red, bony spurs are useful for intimidating enemies. These are not located on the ‘heels’ of its feet, as in many other birds, but on the ‘wrist joint’ of its wings

 

It's no coincidence that this southern screamer walks so ostentatiously along the bank. After all, it's a male, and with its behaviour it tries to distract attention from…

 

…its family, which quickly disappears into the greenery to find safety. Oddly enough, the parents teach their chicks to swim first and then to fly. With caimans around, that sometimes ends badly

 

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Jaak Palmans
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