Theodore Roosevelt inspires my answers to two questions I often hear: “Where’s the best place in the Amazon to see wildlife?” and “Where’s the best place in the Amazon to go fishing?”
On the 1913-14 expedition that became known as his Amazon journey, the 26th president of the United States first traversed the Pantanal. So I reference him to justify my singular answer to those Amazon travel questions: “The Pantanal,” I respond.
Before you get out your South American maps, I know. The Pantanal wetlands region is not the Amazon – though there is something called a transitional area where the two bioregions meet in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. But what people really want is an experience, and usually it can be best had in the Pantanal. Listen to Teddy’s lament in his book Through the Brazilian Wilderness. We join the naturalist former commander-in-chief as he has enters the Amazon following a long trek through the Pantanal: “The forest did not teem with life. It was generally rather silent; we did not hear such a chorus of birds and mammals as we had occasionally heard even on our overland journey, when more than once we had been awakened at dawn by the howling, screaming, yelping, and chattering of monkeys, macaws, parrots, and parakeets.”
Known as the "Serengeti of South America," the Pantanal is a patchwork of low-lying forests and marshes and dry, upland savannas. It is home to jaguars, giant anteaters, marsh deer and giant otters. In the rainy season rivers and streams overflow their banks and flood 80 percent of the Pantanal, covering an area more than ten times the size of the Florida Everglades. Lagoons swell with water lilies, while cattail sprout from marshes and palm trees grow along rivers. The annual flooding cycle creates excellent conditions for the reproduction of fish, and sport fishers tell (apparently true) stories of prize catches of jaú catfish, pintado catfish, and dourado (“a fighting fish that is worth the trouble to catch it,” as one specialized website puts it). North American migratory birds such as the Upland Sandpiper, American Golden Plover and Black-necked Stilt rely on the Pantanal for seasonal respite. A variety of grasses feed wildlife and cattle, which have been raised in the region for more than 200 years. Snuggled up against the Bolivian and Paraguayan borders, the west-central Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul encompass most of the Pantanal’s 138 square kilometers.
If Teddy Roosevelt were to sign on as your guide into the Pantanal, he would probably first want to take you fishing. Roosevelt provided some very specific advice about how to go about it. “For small fish like the pacu and piranha an ordinary bass hook will do. For the latter, because of its sharp teeth, a hook with a long shank and phosphor-bronze leader is the best; the same character of leader is best on the hook to be used for the big fish. A tarpon hook will hold most of the great fish of the rivers. A light rod and reel would be a convenience in catching the pacu. We fished for the pacu as the native does, kneading a ball of manioc farina with water and placing it on the hook as bait. I should not be surprised, though, if it were possible, with carefully chosen flies, to catch some of the fish that every once in a while we saw rise to the surface and drag some luckless insect under.” What isn’t clear is how the roughrider would take to throwing out his line from the deck of a 21st century luxury cruiser with air conditioning, hot showers and color television.
One thing would certainly disappoint Teddy: the prohibition against taking potshots from the deck of the ship at the caiman that line the riverbanks. “The ugly brutes lay on the sand-flats and mud-banks like logs, always with the head raised and sometimes with jaws open,” he wrote. “They are often dangerous to domestic animals and are always destructive to fish, and it is good to shoot them. I killed half a dozen [one morning], and missed nearly as many more – a throbbing boat does not improve one’s aim.”
Roosevelt could get arrested for that now. The prohibition on hunting has helped engender a caiman population boom. Now around 3.5 million, the number of caiman in the Pantanal could eventually reach 35 million – about 40 per person in the region – if the growth continues unchecked, predict scientists. As a result some zoologists defend the return of legalized hunting.
When I visited the aptly named Refúgio Ecológico Caiman - part benchmark ecolodge and nature reserve, part cattle ranch - I saw a squad of caiman that regularly stationed itself in a brook at the bottom of some mini-rapids. Their mouths permanently ajar, they seemed destined to drown in the flowing water. “What’s that all about?” I asked our guide. “They’re fishing,” she replied. “They have a membrane that allows them to catch the fish without letting in the water.” If only I could catch fish with a yawn.
The virtual end of hunting has allowed other species to replenish their numbers. In the old days, cowhands hunted much of their protein as ranchers jealously saved every last steer for the slaughterhouse. Now cowboys get all the beef they can eat, said Cesar Queiroz, general manager of the Refúgio Caiman, who began his career as a cowpoke at age 14. “There’s no reason to hunt,” he added.
While not so good for lunch, one big beneficiary of the no shooting policy is the jaguar – even though the cat, along with its cousin the puma, is blamed for killing about 200 head of cattle annually at the Caiman ranch alone. As recently as a generation ago ranchers employed jaguar hunters to protect their herds. These men were legendary for their cunning and bravery. Roosevelt devotes almost an entire chapter to his adventure in the bush in the company of such men. A famous photograph shows the pith-helmeted former occupant of the White House holding a dead jaguar’s head to pose for the camera in his right hand and a rifle in his left. During my week at the Caiman refuge, I had the good fortune to see two jaguars. Unafraid of old-time riflemen like Roosevelt, one lumbered on a dirt road ahead of our truck for over 30 minutes, occasionally glancing back at us in derision to see if we’d give up our chase.
But like Teddy, we took our hunt to its logical end – this time when the cat finally tired of us and slipped into the bushes.
Bill Hinchberger traveled to Mato Grosso do Sul at the invitation of the Refúgio Ecológico Caiman and its public relations firm Voice Communications
Travel to the Pantanal
Order Theodore Roosevelt’s Through the Brazilian Wilderness from Amazon.com.
Browse BrazilMax’s Pantanal Section for more articles on the region.
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