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THE PANTANAL, BOLIVIAThree countries share the Pantanal: Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, and it covers a 496,000 square-kilometer area. It is one of the most impressive places on Earth in terms of wildlife and considered one of the largest wetlands worldwide. It has also been declared a Ramsar site in 2001.
The Bolivian portion of the wetlands is believed to be the best preserved and is located in the extreme south-eastern corner of the department of Santa Cruz, surrounded by dry Chiquitano Forest and Chaqueño (meaning “from the Chaco region”) Forest. The convergence of these biographic regions has resulted in impressive biological diversity. Meaning “marshland” or “wetland”, to date approximately 1,700 species of plants have been identified in the Brazilian section and in Bolivia research is moving forward that has led to the identification of species that do not exist on the Brazilian side. The Pantanal has two protected areas which were established 1997:
Otuquis
to the Southeast and San Matías to the Northeast. There is a very pretty hotel you can stay at and it is a beautiful area to observe wildlife as well. The town of
Puerto Suarez
is located in this area.
View this beautiful video of the Pantanal and the flora and fauna you'll see there. Although it is filmed in Brazil, it is very similar to the Bolivian portion.
For more information on this and many other amazing ecotours and tours in Bolivia contact Ruta Verde Bolivia. Owners Gijs and Maria Eugenia speak English and Dutch. They were kind enough to share this article and some of their best photos! I checked out some of the literature available on the Pantanal. Here's a list of books and DVDs about this beautiful region:
Other pages that contain lots of fun and interesting facts about Bolivian wildlife: Elephants in Bolivia!?
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