Brazil wildfires killed an estimated 17 million animals
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Loading... - Molly Palmer
- 20 Dec 2021
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They estimate that as many as 17 million vertebrates - including reptiles, birds and primates - died.
Wildfires burned between January and November, destroying 30% of the world's largest tropical wetland.
This estimate of the loss is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Dr Mariana Napolitano Ferreira, head of science at WWF-Brazil explained that there were 22,000 separate fires recorded during that year.
This new research highlights, the researchers say, the importance of preventing such disasters in the future.
Body count
The Pantanal does burn naturally, but the 2020 wildfires were "apocalyptic", according to Dr Alex Lees, an ecologist from Manchester Metropolitan University who has worked extensively in Central Brazil, including in the Pantanal.
They were "very different" to those the region normally experiences and the typical cycle of burning and recovery, Dr Lees explained.
"These fires were unusual because of their scale and were clearly linked to the mega-drought that [the area] was experiencing at that time.
"The Pantanal can't keep burning to this huge extent year-after-year- biodiversity can't recover from that."
The study itself was based on a body-counting exercise.
Scientists managed to reach areas of the wetland within 48 hours of a fire. They walked along tracts at set intervals and examined every dead animal they found.
The team was able to identify the species of 300 animals they found. They then extrapolated from the area they examined to give an estimate of how many animals were killed in total. Read More…
