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In recent months, images taken from the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil have shown flames, heartbreaking images of injured animals and burned animal carcasses.
The Pantanal is found in parts of Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia and is made up of swamps, rivers, and salt marshes. But the wetland area is not so humid during the day.
Pantanal is experiencing the worst drought in 47 years. The area is known for rich wildlife that is now affected by violent fires in the drought-stricken wetland. A quarter of the Pantanal has been destroyed by fires, according to satellite images from the University of Rio de Janeiro.
Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
Extreme drought, strong winds and temperatures above 40 degrees are one of the main causes of the fires that break out there.
Volunteers and local firefighters are working hard to fight the flames while trying to save the animals from the fires.
STRONG IMAGES: Nature lovers from around the world have visited the Pantanal to see jaguars, jabirus storks, giant otters, alligators, toucans, parrots and monkeys. Large parts of the area are now on fire, threatening plant and animal life.
Another fire-damaged jaguar named Amanaci suffered third-degree burns to his legs as a result of the fires in the Pantanal region.
A ring-tailed bear injured by burns is assisted by veterinarians in the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
A giant otter gets food at the animal rescue center in the Pantanal wetlands in Brazil’s Mato Gross state.
A jaguar named Ousado has second-degree burns as a result of fires in the area where he lives.
A dead snake lies on the ground in an area of the Pantanal in Bolivia. The Pantanal stretches from Paraguay to Bolivia. Wildlife is heavily affected by the fires that have ravaged the region.
Photo: AIZAR RALDES / AFP
Alligators and birds are affected by the crisis in Brazil. Extreme drought, the worst in 47 years, strong winds and temperatures above 40 degrees are the main causes of the fires.
A baby deer gets help at the Pantanal Animal Rescue Center.
The vultures are next to a dead alligator in the fire-ravaged area.
Fish skin on burnt legs
There is still something good in the horrible. Brazilian researchers and veterinarians, with the help of public funds, have gone out to the fire-affected areas to help the burned animals, the AP news agency reports.
Researchers have a new way of treating animals with burns. They use fish skin as a bandage on wounds. Fish skin is especially rich in collagen and keeps the skin moist. Veterinarians use Talipa fish skin, and according to AP, this will heal burns faster than normal.
The researchers brought 130 fish skin bandages to the wetlands, giving them the opportunity to treat about 40 animals.
This is the first time this technique has been used in wild animals. This is the same group of researchers who brought the technique to veterinarians in California, where they treated burned bears after fires on the West Coast.
The treatment of burned animals and the training of veterinarians are funded by a crowdfunding campaign called “Pantanal em Chamas”. A ring-tailed bear injured by burns is assisted by veterinarians in the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Photo: JOAO PAULO GUIMARAES / AFP
– The president does nothing
President Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized for the increase in fires since he took office in January 2019, not only in the Pantanal, but also in the Amazon.
Bolsonaro has done little to stop the fires in the wetlands, nor has he done anything to clean up the aftermath, the AP writes.
A quarter of the Pantanal has been destroyed by fires, according to satellite images from the University of Rio de Janeiro.
The vegetation of the Pantanal can regenerate quickly in the rain, but the wildlife that survives is left without habitat in many places.
More than 23,000 square kilometers, an area almost the size of Viken County, have caught fire in the region so far this year, according to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Photo: Andre Penner / AP
“Irreparable”
The damage is irreparable and especially devastating for animals, according to leader Juliana Camargo of the nature conservation organization Ampara Animal, according to NTB.
– Very few animals survive. Those who do are often severely affected. They are burned to the bone, often have to be killed or die of hunger and thirst, she says, according to NTB.
– The worst is when people on the ground fighting the flames tell us that “there is nothing we can do, everything will burn”. The only hope is for it to rain, but it is not expected to happen until November, says Camargo.
The fires in the Pantanal started in July and continued through September. The huge fires in Brazil are consuming large amounts of forests and severely affecting plant and animal life.
Photo: Andre Penner / AP
Since August alone, 15,000 square kilometers have been burned.
So far this year, there have been 12,567 fires in the Brazilian Pantanal, representing a new annual record with more than three months to 2020, according to satellite data compiled by Brazil’s national institute for space research, INPE.
Many of the inhabitants of the Pantanal depend on ecotourism in the region and the industry is now affected by both the pandemic and the fires.
The region at the southern tip of the Amazon rainforest is famous for its magnificent biological diversity, which includes 159 species of mammals.
Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
