Posted on Friday, 16th October 2009 by Interloper
Located in South America, the sprawling Pantanal holds the title as the world’s largest swamp. Located mostly in Brazil, the wetlands also extend into sections of Bolivia and Paraguay and occupy somewhere between 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometres of space (that’s 54,000 – 75,000 square miles).
During the wet season up to 80% of the Pantanal becomes submerged, supporting a massive variety plants and wildlife. Among them are Giant Anteaters, Crowned Solitary Eagles, Marsh Deer and over 9,000 different invertebrates (eww). The Pantanal is also renowned for it’s flourishing jaguar population.
Though considerably lower profile than the Amazon rainforest, the region is no less at risk from human interference. Due to the rich biodiversity of the area it is a prime location for smugglers to obtain rare species that fetch a high price on the black market. Commercial fishing, deforestation and pollution from human cities are just some of the other factors that challenge the preservation of the world’s largest swamp.
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