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This is the Pantanal,
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the Earth's largest tropical wetland.
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It's home to a wealth of animals.
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A wonderland sprinkled with jewel-like springs
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and dense swamps.
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It looks like a paradise,
but there's a catch.
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The fortunes of the animals that live here
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are repeatedly reversed,
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as every year, the whole
region disappears underwater
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and then dries out.
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In the Pantanal, survival,
even for the mightiest,
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can never be taken for granted.
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The Pantanal lies at the heart
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of the South American continent.
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It's a gently sloping basin
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to the southwest of Brazil's highlands.
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Rivers flow from the surrounding mountains,
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creating a maze of woodlands,
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meadows, rivers, and lakes.
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At the end of the rainy season,
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the Pantanal is full to overflowing.
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This is an amphibious world,
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and the creatures that live here
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have to cope with the ever-changing landscape.
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The largest rodents and otters in the world
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depend on the wealth of these tropical waters.
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The local crocodile, a jacare,
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and the otters feed on the vast numbers of fish
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that live within the rivers and lakes.
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The giant otters fear nothing,
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not even the top predator,
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the jaguar.
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It's South America's largest cat.
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Powerful legs make it a strong swimmer.
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And it's as much at home in water as on land.
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The Pantanal is home to a
surprising number of jaguars,
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and they patrol the labyrinth of rivers
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in search of prey.
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But this cat is not hunting,
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or at least, not in the normal sense.
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It's a big male,
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and he's entering the territory of a female.
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Jaguars are solitary for most of their lives.
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Males approach females with trepidation
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for jaguars have the most powerful bite
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in the whole cat family.
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The meeting is an anxious affair.
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The urge to mate
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is in direct conflict with the instinct to fight.
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Jaguar courtship is a rough affair.
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Mating in these top killers
is no simple matter.
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The female both invites
and rebuffs the male.
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On this occasion,
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the violent wooing doesn't work out.
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The Pantanal is huge,
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10 times the size of the Everglades.
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As the weeks go by without rain,
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the fierce tropical sun evaporates the water
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and the rivers slowly drain the wetlands.
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The water level falls,
exposing the riverbanks.
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The giant river otters take the opportunity
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to advertise their territory
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by scent marking the newly-exposed mud and sand.
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The otters are a family
and they work together
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to spread their urine over the fresh mud.
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It takes a mix of cha-cha-cha and disco
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to ensure the bank is truly impregnated.
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The family's particular smell
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will leave no doubt as to who owns
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this part of the Pantanal.
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The majority of the rivers
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that enter the wetland are large and murky.
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As they meander, they deposit
tons of silt and mud.
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But there is another kind of river
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that feeds the Pantanal,
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a river with a very different character.
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The water is crystal clear.
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That's because it comes
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from the surrounding limestone mountains,
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bubbling up from underground
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directly into the rivers.
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Piraputanga patrol these polluted waters.
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They spend a great deal of time
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looking up at the trees that line the river.
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They are the favorite haunt of capuchin monkeys.
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The monkey's boisterous
behavior dislodges insects,
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which become mini Jonahs
to the piraputanga whales.
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The relationship between
monkeys and fish goes further.
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The fish keep an eye on the monkeys.
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When the monkeys move
off, the fish follow.
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It's not just the falling insects
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that the fish are after.
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The monkeys are keen on
fruit, including figs,
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but they're not the tidiest eaters.
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The scraps fall to the river,
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where they're gobbled up by the piraputanga.
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The fish are opportunists.
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In fact, the piraputanga
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are important to the trees.
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Along with the monkeys,
they spread the seeds.
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The fish follow the monkeys for an easy meal.
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But they're not totally
dependent on the capuchins.
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When the monkeys leave,
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the fish have to fend for themselves,
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feasting on the low-hanging fruit.
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The piraputanga diet
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is divided between fruit and meat.
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And the fish even adjust their digestive enzymes
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to suit the food they eat.
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With such a wealth of fish,
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it's no surprise there are predators.
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The anaconda is South America's largest snake.
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It can grow to over eight meters.
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The snake is as much at home in water as on land.
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And this one is looking for a meal.
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The huge snake's eyes are cloudy.
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It's functionally blind
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as it's about to shed its skin.
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But the anaconda uses its tongue even underwater
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as it searches the puddles
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in the limestone for catfish.
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No luck, this time.
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The limestone rivers, with their constant flow,
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are the exception.
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Elsewhere, our rivers are falling,
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and the Pantanal is drying out.
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Grass grows where once there were sheets of water.
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The lakes are shrinking.
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They are the sight of a strange performance.
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Jacare males display their strength
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by raising their heads and
tails clear of the water.
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The vibrations produce infrasound.
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This carries through the opaque waters
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to the nearby females.
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Jaw snaps and head slaps
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produce higher frequency sounds
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that are easier to pinpoint
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and allow the females
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to find the male of their choice.
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After all the bravado,
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the actual mating is a gentle affair,
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with a female approaching
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and rubbing up against her chosen mate.
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The capybaras watch the performance
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from a safe distance.
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They are the largest rodents in the world.
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Males can weigh over 50 kilos,
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and these adult capybaras
dwarf the young jacare.
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The dry season is the hardest time for capybaras.
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They grub around in the
mud for old water weeds.
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Their urge to eat
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is greater than the need to avoid the jacares.
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Both jacare and capybara
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must keep an eye out for their greatest enemy,
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jaguars.
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The male still bears the scars
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of his last amorous encounter.
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Now that the land is emerging from the floods,
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the old jaguar can roam far and wide
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in search of another mate and to hunt.
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The waters have fallen over a meter
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and are still dropping.
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The lakes are draining down to pools,
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and the pools are emptying into the rivers.
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It's now that the hyacinth macaws breed.
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The Pantanal is a stronghold for this rare bird.
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At a meter long,
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it's the largest flying parrot in the world.
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The macaws pair for life,
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and the couple take time to groom each other.
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This is thought to increase the bond
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between the two birds.
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Hyacinth macaws feed on the nuts
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of the Mucuja and Acuri palms.
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The parrots have to be big,
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because to open an ultra-hard nut,
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they require a huge beak
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and large, powerful jaw muscles.
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The macaws have their nest in a taruma tree.
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It's a true survivor.
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And at 40 years old,
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it has witnessed many a drought and flood.
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These huge parrots
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need a tree of this size for their nest,
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but big trees are rare,
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just like the hyacinth macaws.
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The chicks grow quickly
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on a diet of protein-rich palm seeds.
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Even so, it takes around a hundred days
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for the babies to reach a size
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when they can leave the nest.
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For all that time,
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the parents must bring them palm seeds.
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By the time the chicks are able to fly,
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the dry season will be at its height.
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The rivers are at their lowest,
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and steep banks are exposed
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by the falling water level.
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The giant river otters are excited.
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The family is composed of the parents
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and their offspring of different ages.
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The parents bring out the new babies
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for their first taste of water.
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Curiously, for such aquatic creatures,
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the babies have to learn to swim.
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They have many keen coaches
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in their older brothers and sisters.
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After a hesitant start,
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this baby seems to be getting the hang of it,
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though buoyancy is still an issue.
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The older otters keep a watchful eye
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on the beginners.
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The babies still appear unconfident and anxious.
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It'll take a while yet
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before they're truly water babies.
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Reassurance is needed.
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The jaguars are not a problem
for the adult otters,
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but they could kill a baby.
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But they're engrossed in a slow
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and very careful courtship.
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The male takes no farther part in parenthood,
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and the female will give birth alone
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in three months' time.
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As the water continues to drain away,
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the fishing gets easier for the otter family.
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They hunt as a pack.
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The fish are concentrated in the rivers.
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Adult giant river otters
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eat around three kilos of fish a day.
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Catfish are high on the otter menu,
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as they are slow swimmers
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and tend to stay in once place,
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and so are easier to catch.
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Easy to catch,
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but not so easy to eat.
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The catfish erects and locks its spines,
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making it too much of
mouthful for the anhinga.
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The otters quickly fill their stomachs
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and the family set out to patrol
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their patch of the Pantanal.
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They have strength in numbers,
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and they seem frightened of nothing.
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Even a jaguar holds no fear
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There are few, if any, records of a jaguar
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killing an adult giant otter.
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And the jaguar is no match
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as long as the otters stay in the water.
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The heat of the dry season
is beginning to tell.
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The black vultures are just irritating pests.
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The heat is getting to all the animals.
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The otter family hides from the midday sun.
252
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When the heat gets too much,
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they take to the relative cool of the water.
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The young ones have grown,
but they're still pups,
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and they want to play.
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In most of South America,
jaguars are nocturnal,
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but in the Pantanal,
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the big cats roam in the full glare of the sun.
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They'll even hunt in the heat of the day.
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The otters are not their target.
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Jaguars search out their victims by moving slowly
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and using their near perfect camouflage.
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But most times, the prey gets away.
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The jaguar attacks from cover,
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sneaking up behind its target.
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It's quite capable of ambushing animals
267
00:33:10,515 --> 00:33:12,098
larger than itself.
268
00:34:05,989 --> 00:34:10,252
The jaguar has the most powerful bite of any cat.
269
00:34:19,956 --> 00:34:22,429
It crushes the skull of its victim
270
00:34:22,430 --> 00:34:23,847
and paralyzes it.
271
00:34:34,958 --> 00:34:38,593
The jacare will feed the
jaguar for several days.
272
00:34:50,213 --> 00:34:52,089
In the unrelenting heat,
273
00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:54,938
the water continues to evaporate,
274
00:34:54,939 --> 00:34:57,689
leaving dry land and muddy pools.
275
00:35:06,122 --> 00:35:07,836
The jacares are concentrated
276
00:35:07,837 --> 00:35:10,251
in ever-smaller pockets of water.
277
00:35:12,101 --> 00:35:14,571
They have eaten all the fish here.
278
00:35:14,572 --> 00:35:16,216
They must leave soon
279
00:35:16,217 --> 00:35:19,467
or become casualties of the dry season.
280
00:35:34,409 --> 00:35:36,742
The situation is unbearable.
281
00:35:43,859 --> 00:35:46,093
Only in the cool of the evening
282
00:35:46,094 --> 00:35:48,927
can the jacares make their escape.
283
00:36:02,509 --> 00:36:04,423
These reptiles are not designed
284
00:36:04,424 --> 00:36:06,507
for long distance travel.
285
00:36:08,397 --> 00:36:11,397
Their sprawling gait is inefficient,
286
00:36:12,423 --> 00:36:15,590
but they have to search out new ponds.
287
00:36:20,059 --> 00:36:23,155
This jacare must find a new waterhole soon
288
00:36:23,156 --> 00:36:24,906
or die of exhaustion.
289
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,496
The jacares only have the hours of darkness
290
00:36:52,497 --> 00:36:55,532
to discover a new, less crowded home.
291
00:37:30,876 --> 00:37:34,125
By the morning, some
are still searching,
292
00:37:36,324 --> 00:37:38,824
but most have found new homes.
293
00:37:46,637 --> 00:37:50,676
For the moment, some of the
pools still hold fish.
294
00:38:11,288 --> 00:38:14,788
The respite for the reptiles is temporary,
295
00:38:15,867 --> 00:38:18,654
for the Pantanal continues to dry out,
296
00:38:18,655 --> 00:38:22,155
and the pools become more and more scarce.
297
00:38:23,992 --> 00:38:26,684
Parts of the Pantanal look more like a desert
298
00:38:26,685 --> 00:38:27,768
than a swamp.
299
00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:35,997
The water is evaporating evermore quickly
300
00:38:35,998 --> 00:38:37,665
in the intense heat.
301
00:38:39,746 --> 00:38:43,008
What were lakes are now mere puddles.
302
00:38:44,583 --> 00:38:46,164
The fish are trapped,
303
00:38:46,165 --> 00:38:49,165
struggling to breathe in liquid mud.
304
00:38:52,888 --> 00:38:56,721
They're hunted down by jabiru and wood storks.
305
00:39:02,668 --> 00:39:04,367
The birds use their feet
306
00:39:04,368 --> 00:39:08,676
to feel for the fish in the opaque waters.
307
00:39:16,481 --> 00:39:19,163
The jabiru stab where they sense the fish.
308
00:39:57,194 --> 00:39:59,880
The wood storks have a different technique.
309
00:39:59,881 --> 00:40:02,575
They sweep their bills though the water,
310
00:40:02,576 --> 00:40:05,909
waiting for the touch of a fin or scale.
311
00:40:18,704 --> 00:40:21,154
What is a calamity for the fish
312
00:40:21,155 --> 00:40:23,405
is a bonanza for the birds.
313
00:40:24,261 --> 00:40:27,359
This is how the topsy-turvy world
314
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:31,662
of the Pantanal works.
315
00:40:31,663 --> 00:40:35,784
Many of the fish are eaten or entombed in mud,
316
00:40:35,785 --> 00:40:38,289
but some fish survive in the rivers
317
00:40:38,290 --> 00:40:40,790
and the few lakes that remain.
318
00:40:42,592 --> 00:40:45,592
And things are about to change.
319
00:40:54,879 --> 00:40:59,245
After months of drought,
the Pantanal transforms.
320
00:41:01,847 --> 00:41:04,962
Rain is already falling in
the surrounding mountains,
321
00:41:04,963 --> 00:41:08,463
and now it arrives in the Pantanal itself.
322
00:41:39,783 --> 00:41:43,121
The water spreads out over the vast plain.
323
00:41:54,568 --> 00:41:58,484
This is one of the wonders of the natural world,
324
00:41:58,485 --> 00:42:02,065
the periodo de
cheias, the flood.
325
00:42:03,473 --> 00:42:06,315
It turns an area the size of Britain
326
00:42:06,316 --> 00:42:07,983
into a myriad world.
327
00:42:09,919 --> 00:42:12,620
The water will rise more than two meters
328
00:42:12,621 --> 00:42:14,951
and it will stay like this for months.
329
00:42:17,756 --> 00:42:19,392
The jaguars are as much at home
330
00:42:19,393 --> 00:42:21,734
in this new water world
331
00:42:21,735 --> 00:42:24,318
as they were in the dry season.
332
00:42:28,206 --> 00:42:30,865
The rising waters have dislodged a casualty
333
00:42:30,866 --> 00:42:32,341
of the dry season.
334
00:42:37,692 --> 00:42:41,275
Not all the jacares made it to safe havens.
335
00:42:43,851 --> 00:42:48,276
Full of gas, one becomes
a floating restaurant
336
00:42:48,277 --> 00:42:50,087
for the black vultures.
337
00:43:18,720 --> 00:43:21,655
The waters push into the meadows.
338
00:43:21,656 --> 00:43:24,038
This is the time of the fish.
339
00:43:26,213 --> 00:43:29,378
The survivors move into the flooded grasslands
340
00:43:29,379 --> 00:43:31,960
and feed on the many drowned insects.
341
00:43:36,690 --> 00:43:40,434
The fish are spread out
over thousands of hectares.
342
00:43:40,435 --> 00:43:42,185
They're hard to find.
343
00:43:44,014 --> 00:43:47,484
For the birds, fortune has
swung from feast to famine.
344
00:43:52,345 --> 00:43:54,851
Many leave the Pantanal altogether.
345
00:43:59,586 --> 00:44:02,023
The fish quickly put on weight.
346
00:44:02,024 --> 00:44:06,210
In this time of plenty,
females produce eggs
347
00:44:06,211 --> 00:44:09,145
and males begin to fight and court.
348
00:44:14,556 --> 00:44:18,336
A male pike cichlid
excavates his nest burrow.
349
00:44:19,571 --> 00:44:23,408
The female will lay her eggs in the nest,
350
00:44:23,409 --> 00:44:26,175
and the male fends off other fish,
351
00:44:26,176 --> 00:44:29,317
for one fish's eggs can be another's food.
352
00:44:41,933 --> 00:44:45,506
Peacock bass have laid their
eggs amongst the grass
353
00:44:45,507 --> 00:44:47,964
and nervously patrol the area.
354
00:44:54,106 --> 00:44:57,753
Like the pike cichlids,
they are highly aggressive,
355
00:44:57,754 --> 00:44:59,553
and they need to be,
356
00:44:59,554 --> 00:45:01,744
for the eggs are a tempting target.
357
00:45:14,568 --> 00:45:16,172
A piranha has made its nest
358
00:45:16,173 --> 00:45:19,212
in a hollow in the flooded grasses.
359
00:45:19,213 --> 00:45:22,385
It stands guard against the circling predators.
360
00:45:31,902 --> 00:45:35,639
But it is soon overwhelmed by numbers.
361
00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:37,647
Even a piranha's fearsome teeth
362
00:45:37,648 --> 00:45:40,593
are not enough to frighten off the egg thieves.
363
00:45:59,342 --> 00:46:03,175
The good times for the fish last a few months,
364
00:46:04,262 --> 00:46:07,450
and then rivers begin to fall
365
00:46:07,451 --> 00:46:09,532
and the water starts to drain away
366
00:46:09,533 --> 00:46:11,180
from the floodplains.
367
00:46:17,031 --> 00:46:20,169
This is a dangerous period for the fishes,
368
00:46:20,170 --> 00:46:22,023
for they can easy become trapped
369
00:46:22,024 --> 00:46:23,271
on the floodplains.
370
00:46:26,931 --> 00:46:28,268
The fishes and the jacares
371
00:46:28,269 --> 00:46:31,492
hurry back to the channels
that lead to the rivers.
372
00:46:35,809 --> 00:46:38,772
Those animals that do not
make it back to the river
373
00:46:38,773 --> 00:46:41,184
face an uncertain future in the lakes
374
00:46:41,185 --> 00:46:43,644
that will form in the dry season.
375
00:46:51,705 --> 00:46:54,577
The Pantanal is ever-changing,
376
00:46:54,578 --> 00:46:56,622
and the fortunes of its animals
377
00:46:56,623 --> 00:47:00,137
shift with the rise and fall of the waters.
378
00:47:00,138 --> 00:47:02,922
The fish flourish in the wet season,
379
00:47:02,923 --> 00:47:05,256
but suffer with the drought.
380
00:47:06,472 --> 00:47:09,215
For the jacares and fish-eating birds,
381
00:47:09,216 --> 00:47:10,966
the opposite is true.
382
00:47:26,129 --> 00:47:28,794
The fate of the animals of the Pantanal
383
00:47:28,795 --> 00:47:31,962
is inextricably linked to the seasons.
384
00:47:41,835 --> 00:47:43,735
Most capybara babies
385
00:47:43,736 --> 00:47:46,375
are born as the waters fall away.
386
00:47:46,376 --> 00:47:49,959
They are excellent swimmers
from an early age.
387
00:48:00,379 --> 00:48:04,462
The young capybaras are born into a social group,
388
00:48:05,448 --> 00:48:08,281
where all the adults protect them.
389
00:48:28,772 --> 00:48:31,402
Capybaras are ever-watchful,
390
00:48:31,403 --> 00:48:33,630
for they have many enemies.
391
00:48:43,971 --> 00:48:47,998
While the adults keep
watch, the young feed.
392
00:48:47,999 --> 00:48:51,658
They can suckle from any of
the mothers in the group
393
00:48:51,659 --> 00:48:53,909
and do so indiscriminately.
394
00:48:57,267 --> 00:48:58,657
They will drink milk
395
00:48:58,658 --> 00:49:01,612
for the first 16 weeks of their lives.
396
00:49:07,140 --> 00:49:09,322
The young ones are the most vulnerable,
397
00:49:09,323 --> 00:49:12,551
and they need to stay close to the adults,
398
00:49:12,552 --> 00:49:15,552
but curiosity leads them to explore.
399
00:49:21,852 --> 00:49:24,769
The adults keep a constant lookout.
400
00:49:26,682 --> 00:49:30,349
The jaguar is one of their greatest enemies.
401
00:49:43,241 --> 00:49:46,824
The big cat can attack from land and water.
402
00:50:10,883 --> 00:50:12,723
The threat is spotted.
403
00:50:15,133 --> 00:50:19,111
The capybaras head for the
supposed safety of the water.
404
00:50:27,484 --> 00:50:30,023
In the confusion, the young are scattered.
405
00:50:43,608 --> 00:50:45,441
The capybaras regroup,
406
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:51,640
but one baby
407
00:50:52,837 --> 00:50:53,837
is missing.
408
00:51:18,693 --> 00:51:22,276
The Pantanal is a land of feast and famine.
409
00:51:27,519 --> 00:51:31,018
Here, every creature's fate
depends on the season,
410
00:51:32,656 --> 00:51:35,989
and one animal's loss is another's gain.
30571
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