PARTS of the Pantanal wetland in Western Brazil are slowly being reduced to ashes as an extreme heat wave severely threatens the existence of precious wildlife in the area.
Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research detected 3,380 fires in the Pantanal in the first 17 days of November compared to just 69 in the same period last year.
Famed as a paradise of biodiversity, Pantanal is home to thousands of plant and animal species, including 159 mammals.
On normal days, tourists will flock to the area to witness its flourishing eco-tourism industry.
But weeks of roaring wildfires transformed a huge part of Pantanal’s Encontro das Águas State Park, known for its large jaguar population, from emerald green to brown after a month of wildfires burned the area.
Experts have called for more effective measures to protect the world’s largest tropical wetland.
Experts link the frequent fires to the impact of climate change and warned that persistent wildfires will be the ‘new normal’ not just in Pantanal but also in different parts of the world.
