Brazil’s Amazing Animal Facts

Brazil Animal Facts

If you’re looking for some cool facts about Brzil’s animals, you have come to the right page. Brazil the largest country in South America is an exotic, incredible, and unforgettable nation, which is different from any other region on the planet and this can be experienced easily by traveling to Brazil. It is a major tourist hub in Latin America.

Brazil is an enormous and diverse country that has a lot to offer to its visitor, from unspoiled beaches to lush jungles. It has very rich biodiversity and it is possible to experience the world’s largest jungle as well as the largest swamps in the world. Brazil’s wildlife holds most of the natural flora and fauna of South America. It is home to almost sixty percent of the Amazon Rainforest and accounts for about one-tenth of all species found on the planet. In fact, Brazil is believed to have the greatest biodiversity compared to any other country in the world. There are The maximum number of known species of plants about 55,000, freshwater fishes and mammals

Discover the Amazing Wildlife Of Brazil

Visit Brazil, the living aquarium, and enjoy amazing ecotourism adventures. Take an intimate look at the diverse animals and plants of the Pantanal region on your trip. It offers the mighty Amazon to the Pantanal, the endangered Atlantic Forest to immaculate beaches making Brazil possibly the finest country in the world for authentic travel. Experience the spectacular wildlife of the country and take a dip in this living aquarium.

Pantanal region in the southwestern part of Brazil is frequently called the largest wetland in the world and is amongst the best destinations to see wildlife in South America. 80% of the gigantic Pantanal floodplains are underwater in the rainy seasons, which facilitates the growth of remarkable biodiversity. With the vastness and relative openness of the region, it is possible to view animals here as compared to the thick rainforest of the Amazon basin. UNESCO has declared Pantanal a World Heritage Site as well as a Biosphere Reserve. The Jaguar Ecological Reserve is situated within this region which offers a unique glimpse in the culture of the local Pantaneiro and a chance to understand and learn about the abundant fauna and flora in the locality.

There is a general consensus, that Brazil has a high diversity of fauna, and that can be partly explained by the sheer volume of Brazil and the immense variation in ecosystems like the Cerrado, Amazon Rainforest, and the Atlantic Forest.

Toco Toucan

• The Toco Toucan is carved onto tribal totem poles and is believed that it can be used by medicine men to fly to the spirit world.
• Some tribes have a superstition that if a father eats or touches a toucan his newborn child will be cursed.
• The Toco Toucan is often captured to be sold in pet stores where it is sold for about $300.00.
• Kellogg’s cereal has a Toco Toucan on its Fruit Loop boxes.

Golden Lion Tamarin

• People once thought that Golden Lion Tamarins carried yellow fever and malaria.
• The Golden Lion Tamarin can jump fifteen feet.
• The Golden Lion Tamarin reintroduction program is one of the few successful reintroduction programs ever attempted.

Monkeys in Brazil

• There are no primates who live on the ground in the western hemisphere.
• The gibbon is the only monkey who exceeds the Spider Monkey in agility in swinging through the trees.
• Botos are very curious creatures. They enjoy grabbing boaters’ paddles and playing with swimmers.

Dynamiters found a creative way to save the lives of many Botos. A shipload of fish was slowly moved downriver (far enough away from the dynamite site to be safe). The dolphins followed the boat and went unscathed when the blast occurred.

Brazilian Opossums

Female Mouse Opossums are intolerant of one another.
When bananas are shipped into a country, dockworkers often come in contact with stowaway Mouse Opossums.

More Brazilian Opossums:

• Bushy-tailed Opossum
• Chestnut-striped Short-tailed Opossum
• Emilia’s Short-tailed Opossum
• Long-nosed Short-tailed Opossum
• Marajo’s Short-tailed Opossum
• One-striped Short-tailed Opossum
• Pygmy Short-tailed Opossum
• Shrewish Short-tailed Opossum
• Theresa’s Short-tailed Opossum

The female white-lined bat may become pregnant while she is still lactating or nursing babies.

Spectacled Bear

• Researchers have trouble learning about the Spectacled Bear because of its remote homes and shyness.
• The fur of the Spectacled Bear is thinner than North American Bears due to the warm climate they live in.
• The Spanish name for the Spectacled Bear is Uumari, which means short-faced bear.

Brazilian Sloths

• A sloth can swim quite well.
• A sloth can turn its head 270 degrees and hold it nearly straight up while its body is hanging upside down.
• A sloth climbs down from its tree about once a week to urinate and defecate.
• Sloths make shrill whistling sounds. A baby sloth might bleat if it gets away from its mother.

Pigmy Marmosets

• The Pigmy Marmoset’s claws help it cling to tree trunks.
  Scientists discovered new cousins (a new Marmoset species) in 1993.
• Pigmy Marmosets can live to be eleven years old.
• The small size of the Pigmy Marmoset is great for hiding in the leaves from predators.
• The smallness of the Pygmy Marmoset doesn’t keep him from chasing intruders from his territory.

Muriquis are the largest primates in South America.

The Tupi Indians named the Muriquis.

Pacaranas

• A few Pacaranas have been captured, but fail to reproduce in the environment of a zoo.
• Pacaranas usually live alone or in pairs.
• Pacaranas communicate with foot stomps, chattering teeth, whines, songs, and hisses.

Titis

• Masked Titis huddle and wrap their tails together to sleep at night?
• Father Titi is the last one from the sleeping tree in the morning.
• Titis are Quadra pedals – they walk on four legs.
• Masked Titis like to stay at least 15 feet high in the trees. They spend very little time lower than that.
• Masked Titis spend 2 to 3 hours each day eating.

Giant Armadillos

• Giant Armadillos can’t curl up enough to totally protect themselves like other armadillos. Because of this they often choose to dig a hole to escape predators.
• Giant Armadillos are considered an endangered species in the United States.
• Giant Armadillos live from twelve to fifteen years.

Giant Otters

• Giant Otters often babysit for one another.
• Even in a large group, they rarely have a fight with each other.
• The Giant Otter lives to be twelve years old in the wild but can live up to twenty-one years in the zoo.

The word inunguis (part of the Amazonian Manatee’s scientific name) means no nails. This group is the only one that doesn’t sport nails on its flippers.

Manatees

• Amazonian Manatees sometimes become stranded in lakes when the wet season waters of the Amazon River begin to cede.
• The Amazonian Manatee’s slow metabolism allows it to survive long periods without food during the dry season.
• The American Manatee’s back is the home of a large number of crustaceans.
• American Manatees communicate with inaudible sounds made underwater. These squeaks and squeals help the mother keep track of its calf.
• The female American Manatee is referred to as a cow.

Three Banded Armadillo

• Mining and agricultural development threaten Three-Banded Armadillo’s existence.
• The Three-Banded Armadillo is extremely easy for hunters to capture and kill.
• There are usually only 7 Three Banded Armadillos found in one square kilometer.
• The Three-Banded Armadillo is considered an endangered species.

The Brazilian Arboreal Mouse is missing its claw from both the big and little toes of its hind foot.

The South American Giant Rat has never been captured in a trap? It may be due to its large size.

South American Giant Rats have been captured by dogs and by humans.