RIO DE JANEIRO — Two jaguar cubs were burned to death, their tiny bodies charred.
The tapirs, their legs bloodied and raw, were scalded by the burning embers.
Nests of unhatched eggs of rare parrots were consumed by flames as tall as trees.
Forest fires are devastating the Pantanal Brazil, the largest tropical wetland in the world and one of the most important biodiversity sanctuaries on the planet.
And the fires, the worst on record since Brazil began tracking blazes in 1998, are taking a deadly toll on wild animals, including at-risk species that scientists have been working for decades to protect.
“We are seeing the biodiversity of the Pantanal disappear in ashes,” said Gustavo Figueirôa, a biologist who works for SOS Pantanal, a nonprofit conservation organization.
“It’s being burned to a crisp.”
The Pantanal is a labyrinth of rivers, forests and swamps that extends over more than 170,000 square kilometers, an area 20 times larger than the Everglades.
Around 80% is located in Brazil, and the rest in Bolivia and Paraguay.
A giant anteater in the Pantanal in 2017. At least three anteaters have died in fires this year. Photo by Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times
The Pantanal, which is usually flooded for much of the year, has been plagued by a series of severe droughts in recent years that scientists have linked to the deforestation and climate change.
Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned more than 18,000 square kilometers, an area the size of New Jerseyin the Brazilian part of the Pantanal.
Sanctuary
The wetlands, parts of which are on the list of heritage sites of the UNESCO Due to their rich biodiversity, they are home to the world’s largest parrot, the highest concentration of alligators and endangered wildlife including the giant otter.
They are also home to animals that have evolved in ways distinctive to other members of their species, such as larger jaguars that dive into flooded plains to fish for food.
Researchers have counted at least 4,700 species of plants and animals in the Pantanal, although they say scientists have yet to discover many more.
“There is still a lot we don’t know,” said Luciana Leite, a biologist and climate activist with the Foundation for Environmental Justice.
“It is a very special region.”
But wildfires, fanned by strong winds and scorching temperatures, are threatening this natural laboratory, killing or injuring giant anteaters, lowland tapirs, marsh deer, hyacinth macaws and caimans.
Wildlife rescuers worked to save a tapir that was burned by fires that spread across a farmer’s property on the Trans-Pantanal Highway in 2020. Photo Maria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times
The flames have even reached jaguars, normally agile enough to escape most dangers.
Three have been found dead since the fires broke out, while four others were rescued and treated for burns, according to conservationists in the region.
“If the jaguar, an animal that runs, climbs and swims, is being affected on this scale, what chance do the slowest animals“?” said Enderson Barreto, a veterinarian and director of the Animal Disaster Response Group, a volunteer organization that works in the Pantanal.
Vulnerable
Jaguars are classified as vulnerable in Brazil, which is home to about half of the world’s population of the animal.
Now, the fires are closing in on a reserve that is home to the highest density of jaguars in the world (four to eight animals per 40 square miles), and experts fear the death toll for jaguars, and many other animals, could rise.
“We’re really nervous watching this unfold,” said Barreto, who is working on the front lines of rescue efforts inside the Pantanal.
“The prognosis is not good.”
Scientists say it is too early to say precisely how many animals are dying in the fires, as many are perishing in remote regions that rescue teams cannot reach.
But they fear the death toll could surpass that of the fires that devastated the region in 2020, killing some 17 million animals and burning nearly a third of Brazil’s Pantanal.
“We are not just witnessing the repetition of a tragedy,” Leite said.
“In reality, it is a much worse situation.”
One of the animals that fell victim was named Gaia and had played a key role in the Pantanal’s fledgling ecotourism industry for a decade.
Brave and sociable, Gaia, a 59-kilogram spotted jaguar, did not stray far from the vans transporting tourists from a nearby ecolodge.
He became a local celebrity among wildlife enthusiasts.
A jaguar in the Pantanal in 2020. Brazil is home to about half of the world’s jaguar population. Photo Maria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times
Then, this month, the flames came at breakneck speed.
Gaia had no time to flee.
The news shook Figueirôa, who had monitored the jaguar and his siblings when they were still cubs.
“That was one of the best sightings of my life,” he said, lifting up a pant leg to reveal a tattoo of Gaia’s sister on his calf.
“When I saw Gaia burned, turned into charcoal, I could imagine the pain she must have felt,” Figueirôa added.
“It was a feeling of frustration, despair and helplessness.”
More victims
The fires have also killed at least three giant anteatersmammals known for their characteristic long snout and 60-centimeter-long tongue, which they use to catch insects.
The species is thought to have evolved over millions of years but is endangered in Brazil, with its population there declining by 40% in the past two decades, said Flávia Miranda, president of the Tamanduá Institute, a nonprofit that works to protect anteaters.
“With the loss of these animals,” Miranda said, “we are losing an evolutionary story that has not yet been fully told.”
The fires have reached the treetops, scorching 80 percent of a crucial nesting area for hyacinth macaws, large, bright blue parrots that conservationists consider vulnerable and whose population is declining.
The fires have also disrupted food chains, leaving behind an arid landscape devoid of water and essential food sources such as plants, insects and smaller animals.
Experts believe the wildfires will continue at least until October, when the long-awaited rainy season may bring some relief.
The blazes are adding to the pressure on an ecosystem already stressed by unusually frequent fires in recent years, raising questions about its ability to fully recover.
If not, countless species could lose their last sanctuaries in South America, including the lowland tapir, according to Patricia Medici, a biologist and conservationist who studies the species. “In the Pantanal,” she said, “the tapir is in paradise.”
For scientists like Leite, who have dedicated much of their lives to safeguarding the region’s vulnerable wildlife, the future looks bleak.
He wonders, he said, whether the Pantanal, a rare bastion of nature where humans can still witness wildlife in abundance, will remain intact for the next generation.
“I don’t know if my son will have the privilege of looking a jaguar in the eye, as I have done so many times,” Leite said, wiping away tears.
“We are losing this truly magical place.”
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