Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
flourishes only through a complex system of nutrient cycling involving plants, insects and
fungi, so if the forest is cleared, the quality of the land disappears rapidly.
The rainforest ecosystem supports an incredible variety of plant and animal life: over six
thousand species of plant have been recorded in one small tract of forest, and the Amazon's
unidentified species of insect alone are thought to outnumber all earth's known animal spe-
cies. Seeing wildlife in the Amazon is not easy, nevertheless on any rainforest trip you're
likely to see innumerable
birds
including brightly coloured toucans, parrots, tanagers, king-
fishers, trogons and macaws of various kinds. Several of Bolivia's more than thirty
mon-
key
species are also easy to spot, including long-limbed spider monkeys, howler monkeys,
chattering squirrel monkeys and diminutive tamarinds and titis. Larger mammals include the
capybara
, the world's largest
rodent
, the tapir, a lumbering beast the size of a cow with an
elephant-like nose, herds of
peccary
, a kind of wild boar, as well as
giant armadillos
and
sloths
. All of these are potential prey for a range of wild cats, the largest of which is the
jag-
uar
. The rivers of the Bolivian Amazon teem with fish, from giant catfish to the
piranha
.
You'll also see
turtles
and
cayman crocodiles
of various kinds, as well as
giant anacondas
and
pink freshwater dolphins
.
Many of the larger animals are easier to see as you head east through the Bolivian Amazon,
where the dense rainforest gives way to the more open vegetation of the
Llanos de Moxos
,
where seasonally flooded grasslands are interspersed with islands of forest and patches of
swamp. Here, you're more likely to spot creatures such as
giant anteaters
and
rheas
(large
flightless birds similar to ostriches), or even
maned wolves
.
The Eastern Lowlands
To the south of the Bolivian Amazon the forest ecology gradually changes as it adapts to
lower and more seasonally varied rainfall. The
Chiquitania
region east of Santa Cruz has
some of the world's largest remaining tracts of
tropical dry forest
, which is home to many
of the same animal species, plus a great variety of bird life. Heading further south, this forest
gets drier still as it merges into the Gran Chaco. This vast, arid wilderness also supports
abundant wildlife, including
jaguar
,
puma
,
deer
, at least ten different kinds of
armadillo
,
and even an endemic species of wild boar, the
Chacoan peccary
.
The contrast between the Chaco and the far east of Bolivia could not be greater. Here, the
plains and rainforests of Amazonia gradually give way to the immense watery wilderness of
the
Pantanal
, the world's largest wetland ecosystem, which stretches far across the border
with Brazil and is home to many Amazonian species. Though it does not match the over-
all biodiversity of the rainforest, the Pantanal is unique in terms of the sheer abundance of
wildlife. Concentrations of fauna here are thought to be the highest in all the Americas, com-
parable to the densest wild animal populations in Africa - one estimate puts the number of
caymans
in the region at ten million. It's also one of the best places to see
jaguars
and the
