- 5 hours ago
At first glance, they look like pigs, but they're actually white-lipped peccaries from the Brazilian wetlands of the Pantanal, 10 times the size of the Everglades. Follow scientists as they track these mysterious mammals in their daily quest for food, while keeping a watchful eye for their main predator: jaguars.
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00:00Brilliant flocks of birds, sleek jaguars, and playful otters are the attention getters in one of the world's largest tropical wetlands.
00:13But herds of peccaries are its eco-engineers.
00:20They're not the most beautiful residents, yet if it wasn't for them, the punch bowl would be empty at this Pantanal party.
00:34The Pantanal.
00:49One of the most diverse tropical wetlands on planet Earth.
00:57Rare and exotic birds.
01:10Extraordinary looking mammals.
01:13And some that look a little more familiar.
01:20Although they look like pigs or boars, they're not.
01:26They're white-lipped peccaries.
01:35The stripes of white hair underneath their chin give them their distinctive appearance and name.
01:49They're a favorite meal.
01:52For the jaguar.
01:59Like the jaguar, they prefer areas with next to zero human footprint.
02:08So where there are peccaries, there's a good chance you'll spot jaguars too.
02:19Peccaries eat so much and travel so far, scientists study them to take the pulse of the Pantanal's overall health.
02:27White-lipped peccaries.
02:28White-lipped peccaries have all these multiple ecological roles.
02:31They're ecosystem engineers.
02:33They require a huge area.
02:36So they make the perfect indicator to define areas of preservation for all wildlife.
02:42The Pantanal wetlands sprawl over about 55,000 square miles.
02:51More than ten times the size of the Florida Everglades.
02:57From a bird's eye view, it looks like one giant swamp.
03:03But researchers have discovered a diverse and complex mosaic of habitats.
03:12Alexine Karoglian has been studying Brazil's peccaries for over 20 years.
03:18With her team and the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
03:24She's tracking a very large herd in the heart of the Pantanal.
03:32They're on the trail of a peccary named Trina.
03:36She's one of three females they've outfitted with a GPS caller.
03:43It emits a radio signal that leads Alexine to the herd.
03:53Trina's herd is made up of 70 individuals.
04:04At times, herds will merge, creating a super herd of 300 animals.
04:16One huge family, four generations, from babies to great grandparents.
04:22I call them the hippies of the Pantanal because it's just so awesome how they're all related.
04:29It's like one happy Greek family or Italian or even Armenian for that case.
04:35But that is very unusual, that social tightness that exists in a herd.
04:45You know, they just love each other and they're always together, always watching out for each other.
04:50You know, the babies are complaining.
04:53You know, you're just looking like, yeah, you know?
04:56What a great family.
04:58White-lipped peccaries will eat just about anything that's a veggie.
05:06But what they really, really like are fruits and nuts.
05:21They're a breeze to chew.
05:25And they provide lots of calories for a minimal amount of work.
05:34The peccaries have hit the jackpot at this pit stop.
05:41The palm trees are loaded with clusters of fruits.
05:47Many have fallen to the ground and are easy pickings.
05:51The peccaries suck on the pulp and spit out the seeds.
06:08They churn up the soil, bury the seeds, and create the perfect conditions for new plants to grow.
06:21And as they move from one feeding spot to the next, they spread the seeds throughout the ecosystem.
06:38They're always moving. They're quite active.
06:42I mean, you have to think, there are 75, 80 individuals that need to be fed.
06:47They weigh about 30 to 40 kilos.
06:51And they need to look for fruits that fall in abundance, like mass-fruiting species.
06:57So they go after these fruits.
07:00And in order to achieve a diet for 75 individuals, you need to get a lot of that.
07:05That's why the peccaries are useful for assessing the health of the Pantanal.
07:15They need to eat so much food that their home ranges are as large as 30 square miles.
07:20The slightest change to their habitat will cause them to modify their behavior and their foraging routes.
07:33We can see how they change and how they'll leave the area and move to more pristine areas where the habitat quality is better.
07:43So that's why they are such important indicators.
07:46As it's changing, they keep redefining and looking for pristine habitat.
07:56Trina's herd is on the move.
08:01And Alexine is on their trail.
08:03Male and female peccaries are the same size and even look the same at a distance.
08:22This lack of sexual dimorphism is very unusual for ungulates.
08:32But with little competition between male peccaries, there's no evolutionary pressure to grow bigger and stronger.
08:39You know, a lot of people will say, oh, the males are the ones that lead the groups.
08:44Or the males will mate with all the females.
08:47But that doesn't exist.
08:48So that's why I say they're hippies.
08:50White-lipped peccaries are promiscuous in their mating system.
08:55So, you know, there will be several males and several females mating.
08:59They kind of go off in the corner, not too discreetly.
09:02They're quite, you know, open about it.
09:04And so it's just like, you know, living in a hippie colony without drugs.
09:13Both male and female are on equal footing.
09:21But it's the elders who know the roots to the good fruit patches.
09:26They pass this crucial knowledge on to the young as they lead the way along the trails.
09:32The herd makes a beeline for the trees.
09:36It's a shortcut.
09:37It doesn't take long for the herd to disappear.
09:49The signal from Trina's GPS caller is coming in loud and clear.
10:01So it shouldn't be a problem to track the herd.
10:05But in the Pantanal wilderness, there's always the unexpected.
10:17It looks like it'll be a while before Alexine and her team will get around this.
10:22And they'll be playing catch up once they do.
10:31Because in these parts, nature rules.
10:39Ask Fernando Marin.
10:43He's lived here for 25 years.
10:45And he knows that Mother Nature always has her way.
10:49Here, when I cry, this here is the laga tudo.
10:53The time of the chuvarada, in February, March, the laga tudo.
10:58The time of the chuvarada.
11:00There's nothing.
11:01It's just from the plane.
11:04The maintenance, gasoline, oil,
11:08the remedies, food for cattle, salt.
11:12It's just from the plane.
11:13It's late September, so there are still dry roads, albeit bumpy ones, to drive on.
11:29The rainy season and the relief it brings is still a couple of months away.
11:36Now it's the harsh sun and high temperatures that all the inhabitants of this region have to contend with.
11:43The water is too hot.
11:45The great snow is too hot.
11:49It's too hot.
11:50It's going to dry the Bahia.
11:52The skin is suffering from the water.
11:54Then the sea is too hot, like the gutturing.
11:56The plants, the taming, and the tamagua.
11:59These drastic seasonal changes create the productive habitat that make this place a
12:07hotspot for biodiversity.
12:17This area, known as the Necolangia region, is nestled in the heart of the wetlands.
12:26It's so remote that the wildlife hardly knows any threats.
12:33And it's largely untouched by humans.
12:41Tens of thousands of lakes and large patches of wooded savanna, called Cerrado, dot the landscape.
12:53While ranches and farms have staked a claim to much of the Pantanal, their impact is still
12:58limited.
13:10Saltwater lakes are found only in this part of the Pantanal.
13:16Their presence is still a mystery.
13:22They have a very high sodium carbonate content, and to the local wildlife, the minerals are
13:27like candy.
13:34This is a pregnant feral pig, not a peccary.
13:48They first invaded the Pantanal over 200 years ago.
13:56Their domestic pigs gone wild.
14:02The extreme conditions of these unique lakes also attract native species.
14:10Throughout the year, blooms of blue-green algae called cyanobacteria support millions of aquatic
14:17insects.
14:19Hordes of brine flies congregate on the floating algae mats to feed.
14:40These are algae that, when the wind is too much, the wind balance, and they make this type
14:49of algae, because the algae contains salt.
14:55And it has a kind of limbo, a toxinus that grudas on our hands.
15:05The color of the water, the color of this thing.
15:19Birds are also very fond of the saltwater lakes.
15:24They're here for the insects, like water boatmen and water scavenger beetles.
15:29Black-necked stilts carefully pick their way through the green slime.
15:56These greater yellowlegs are seasonal migrants from Canada and the United States.
16:03Their sensitive bills allow them to find tiny insects and larvae buried in the mud and sand.
16:23The saltwater lakes are still a bit of an enigma.
16:28In this area, a saltwater lake can be found just a few hundred yards from a freshwater lake.
16:38And this still puzzles scientists.
16:45It was once thought that these salty lakes were remnants of an ancient salt pan, created over two million years ago.
16:53However, recent studies show that the freshwater and the saltwater lakes come from the same water table.
17:02How does one body of water turn salty and alkaline while another lake, just a few yards away, remains fresh?
17:17Scientists discovered that there's an impermeable soil layer around the salt lakes that isolates them from the freshwater.
17:32This results in long periods of evaporation and concentrates the dissolved salts in the water, which after decades creates the salty alkaline conditions typical of these unique lakes.
17:47Why some lakes have an impermeable soil layer and others don't is still a mystery.
18:07But the fact remains, the richness of the algae they provide is a big draw for the local wildlife and migratory wading birds.
18:22Deep in the adjacent forest, Alexine and her team are still battling a roadblock.
18:29There's no way through it.
18:41So they're going around it.
18:52It takes some muscle.
18:56But they manage to clear a path through the forest.
19:04After a few tries and some tight maneuvers, they're back on the road chasing Trina and the rest of the white-lipped peccary herd.
19:12Trina is way up ahead.
19:28Peccaries travel up to six miles a day to find good foraging sites.
19:31And Trina's herd has just found its next pit stop.
19:38A place where fruit trees flourish and palm trees are abundant.
19:47There are many species of palm trees in the Pantanal.
19:52The three most common species spell A-B-C.
19:59A is for the Akuri palm.
20:05Which produces fruits that grow in large bunches.
20:10They're a favorite of the Hyacinth macaws.
20:17If they're not plucked off the bunch, they'll ripen and fall to the ground.
20:23A treat for the peccaries.
20:25B is for the Bocayuva palm.
20:32They grow up to 50 feet tall and also produce fruit and clusters.
20:42The ripe fruits that land on the forest floor have a brittle shell that contains an edible kernel underneath a thick layer of soft pulp.
20:50It's another peccary delicacy which humans also use to make flour and sweets.
21:06C is for the Karanda palm.
21:09They also produce edible fruits and seeds.
21:15And they're well adapted to cope with the extreme droughts and floods that besiege the Pantanal,
21:19every year.
21:25Peccaries are constantly on the move in search of their next meal.
21:30For now, it's time to fuel up before the next calorie burning trek.
21:38Every adult member of the herd keeps an eye out.
21:42Especially for jaguars.
21:43This crab-eating fox is not a threat to the peccaries.
22:02But they'll raise the bristles along their backs to increase their apparent size whenever they sense danger.
22:07They'll also alert the rest of the group by clacking their teeth.
22:12Peccaries don't see very well, so they rely on their hearing and sense of smell to detect predators.
22:18They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:19But their best defense is to scare the birds.
22:20They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:21They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:22But their best defense is to scare the birds.
22:23Scatter into the trees.
22:24They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:25But their best defense is to scatter into the trees.
22:26They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:27But their best defense is to scatter into the trees.
22:28They don't have to bother this time.
22:29The fox is just passing by.
22:31They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:33They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:34They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:35They'll charge if they feel threatened.
22:41But their best defense is to scatter into the trees.
22:46They don't have to bother this time.
22:49They don't have to bother this time.
22:55The fox is just passing by, looking for his mate.
23:08Alexine and her team lost precious time finding a way past the fallen tree blocking the road.
23:19Now, they're back on Trina's trail, and they're trying to lock in on her GPS signal.
23:30So far, just noise.
23:41They try their luck with a more powerful handheld directional antenna.
23:49Their study area is a typical Pantanal cattle ranch, over 22,000 acres.
23:57Finding a radio signal in such a vast territory takes a lot of patience and resolve.
24:05Over the years, Alexine discovered that the herds are not well-defined.
24:09Right now, I am tracking three subherds.
24:12Each one of those subherds contains about 75 individuals.
24:17But we know from animals that are chipped and recaptures, and from our genetic work,
24:24that there is fusion and fission between these subherds.
24:30And basically, what we're talking about is a herd of, let's say, 300 individuals,
24:36dividing up into subherds, and they are all related.
24:42Trina travels with one of the subherds.
24:49They can't find her.
24:52But then...
24:55another signal breaks through.
24:59It's Nanda.
25:00She and Cannella are also wearing GPS collars.
25:04The white-lip peccary here is Nanda.
25:09Probably resting because it's so hot.
25:14It would be impossible to find foraging spots large enough to accommodate the voracious appetite
25:19of all 300 peccaries.
25:23That's why this extended and sizable family divides into smaller groups.
25:28I'm going to check to see if Trina is with her.
25:32She's another number.
25:35She is 620.
25:38The signal for each subherd has its own frequency.
25:43She is not here.
25:45She's probably in another area.
25:50Alexine keeps tabs on all three.
25:52White-lip peccary Cannella.
25:54Six hundred.
25:56Six hundred.
25:57She's not here either.
25:59Only Nanda is here.
26:04So they're definitely three distinct subherds.
26:16Nanda and her group have taken shelter from the harsh midday sun.
26:20But even in the shade of the forest, they struggle to cool off.
26:37While she rests, Nanda covers her belly with sand.
26:54It's an old habit.
26:57That's how peccaries clean themselves.
27:00The impact of the soaring temperatures and severe drought is evident along the banks of the main river that flows through the area.
27:17The Rio Negro, the Black River.
27:19It flows southwards, carrying with it a thick soup of sediments and nutrients that replenish the soil.
27:36It hasn't rained here for about five months.
27:42And as temperatures reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit, soon after sunrise, the river is drying up.
27:50The river is drying up.
27:57There are five species of kingfishers in the Pantanal.
28:07The ringed kingfisher is the largest and most abundant.
28:10The green kingfisher is harder to spot, but with water levels so low, even the shy ones come out of the shade to hunt for fish.
28:27It's a little past noon.
28:32And apart from Fernando and his boat, there's little activity on the river.
28:43There is also a fish that bites the river.
28:48There is a bird in the border.
28:55It's white, it's red.
28:59And this, number eight, is white.
29:06Like most animals, the long-nosed bats are resting.
29:12The bats are a lot busier during the night, feeding on mosquitoes and midges.
29:18Jaguars are extremely elusive cats.
29:34Fernando has seen so many this year because the region has been hit with a record-breaking
29:38heat wave.
29:41All the animals are forced out of hiding, if they want to find water, including the bigger
29:47guys.
29:48This is the bite of the ant.
29:52It's very fresh.
29:55These are the ears of the ant.
29:59This, this, this.
30:02This are the small ears from the front.
30:06The foot is above the other, and here it's the other one, the other eye of her.
30:11Tapirs are one of the larger mammals of the Pantanal.
30:30Tapirs can be three feet tall and can weigh 800 pounds.
30:40They're odd-toed ungulates.
30:42They support their weight on three toes.
30:47Unlike peccaries, which are even-toed ungulates and support their weight on two toes.
30:58They like fruits, but often prefer to browse leaves.
31:11They eat a lot and digest their food slowly over several days.
31:24Unlike peccaries, tapirs are loners and only look for company when it's time to mate.
31:30The river provides welcome relief from the heat of the day.
31:43And for some, the dry season has its perks.
31:48For the elegant black skimmers, there's new nesting real estate.
31:56Sandbars exposed by the receding river that are the perfect spot to raise a family.
32:03They like to nest in the open, close to the water.
32:13They also like company, and they're loud.
32:22The chicks in this family are about 20 days old.
32:27They're already as big as the adults, but their pale plumage has yet to take on the classic
32:33black skimmer tuxedo look.
32:41The sandbars attract other residents, like the large-billed terns.
32:56They count on each other to protect the nesting colony.
33:07The young black skimmers won't be able to fly for another two to three weeks, and they still
33:12don't have the necessary skills to fend for themselves.
33:20Like your typical teenagers, they're always hungry and are always begging for more food.
33:31So the parents are off, gone fishing.
33:38For the black skimmers, a fishing expedition looks like a graceful choreography.
33:54Skimmers usually feed in large flocks.
34:08When the winds are low and the water is calm, they fly over it.
34:24Skimming the surface with their huge lower bill.
34:31When it feels a prey, a small fish, insect, or a crustacean, the skimmer bows its head down
34:43and closes its bill.
34:50They can swallow their catch while flying.
34:58And then, if their chick is lucky, they'll regurgitate it.
35:03But not this time.
35:05A few miles away, Alexine and her team are still trying to find Trina.
35:20They make a short detour to check some camera traps.
35:33We put a camera trap under this tree that we call the monkey ear tree.
35:40You can see, it looks like a monkey ear.
35:48It's a delicious fruit and it falls very quickly.
35:58And all wildlife enjoys eating it.
36:01And white-lipped peccaries do as well.
36:08These monkey ear trees are at the end of their fruiting cycle.
36:21It's a bonanza for the peccaries.
36:23And they take full advantage of it.
36:33They were visiting it every day for at least a week.
36:36And they're still coming to eat it.
36:41All three groups could come to this spot and eat it.
36:44Because there's that overlap between the sub-herds.
36:48So this can be three, four different groups coming here.
36:57The images captured by the camera give Alexine a few precious insights into the herd's behavior.
37:04They can't specifically identify the animals or which sub-herd they belong to.
37:10But they can't establish the group's feeding patterns.
37:14When and what they prefer to eat.
37:16And how often.
37:32Time to get back on the road.
37:40They decide to head towards the Rio Negro.
37:45It's the closest body of water.
37:51And it's a pretty sure bet that's where most animals are in this heat.
37:59The birds are already here.
38:09Roseate spoonbills swing their strange-looking spoon-shaped beaks through the muddy water.
38:14Looking for shrimps and other crustaceans.
38:17Aquatic insects, frogs, and tadpoles.
38:21Their specialized bills have sensitive nerve endings that help them feel their prey when they brush against it.
38:31Their pink color comes from some of the crustaceans they eat.
38:37Which themselves feed on pink algae.
38:40While they look almost entirely pink, the adults have no feathers on their bald, pale green heads.
38:50In the breeding season, their heads will turn a buffed gold.
39:05Another wader.
39:07The whistling heron's fishing technique is a lot more focused.
39:11The birds are a small, but cunning predator.
39:28This heron isn't after insects or crustaceans.
39:31He's looking for something meatier.
39:42He can stay immobile or walk slowly for long periods.
39:58The frog doesn't go down without a struggle.
40:01It's a tasty meal for the heron who's taking its time
40:06and even drinking a little water to help the frog slide down smoothly.
40:10A little further up the river, a family of capybaras is grazing on aquatic plants and grasses.
40:14A little further up the river, a family of capybaras is grazing on aquatic plants and grasses.
40:26They're the world's largest rodents and could normally do this all day long.
40:33Now it's just too darn hot.
40:35Best to stay still and cool off.
40:37Now it's just too darn hot.
40:42Best to stay still and cool off.
40:49They look well suited to land.
40:56But capybaras are also excellent swimmers.
41:03Their ears, eyes and nostrils are on the top of their heads, leaving most of their bodies underwater.
41:10These rodents live in groups of up to 30 animals.
41:17and are highly social.
41:24They are led by a dominant male.
41:25They are led by a dominant male.
41:31On the other side of the river, there's one group that doesn't seem to be able to live in the river.
41:36They are led by a dominant male.
41:41On the other side of the river, there's one group that doesn't seem to be able to live in the river.
42:00One group that doesn't seem capable of standing still.
42:05A family of giant otters.
42:15The adults are almost six feet long.
42:21Parents and their offspring from previous years live together.
42:28Something seems to have caught the giant otter's attention.
42:40They bob their heads in and out of the water, spy hopping to take a peek.
42:49It's a lone caiman entering giant otter territory.
43:00The subordinate male capybaras have also spotted the intruder and give a warning call.
43:06The females don't like the look of the situation either and gather the youngsters together to make a quiet exit.
43:22While the large dominant male protects the rear.
43:40The caiman has spotted a large fish.
43:52The giant otter can only take a quick nip and vocalize her discontent.
44:10The caiman hangs on to its catch.
44:25And then makes its way into the brush to hide from other caimans and eat in peace.
44:34Alexine and her team have finally found Trina.
44:49She's the one on the right with the collar.
44:53Trina's group is using a large lake to cool off and forage.
45:07As the dry season peaks and fruits become scarce,
45:10these lakes and the aquatic plants they offer ensure the peccaries' survival year-round.
45:23And that's why this region is so special and so important to preserve.
45:31We're studying the species and I can say,
45:33oh, I love whitelift peccaries.
45:35They do all these wonderful things, but that's not the case.
45:38I love all wildlife.
45:40I want to see them all well because like jaguars depend on peccaries.
45:45And we know cases where the whitelift peccaries were hunted until they became locally extinct
45:52and the jaguars will disappear.
45:56And that's why whitelift peccary research is so important.
46:02When Alexine tracks peccary herds,
46:04she's not only gathering information about their behavior,
46:07she's also learning about what it takes to keep a population of 300 mammals healthy and thriving.
46:17If she can do that, she'll help preserve all the wildlife in the Pantanal.
46:22And with this data, we can define ecological corridors throughout the Pantanal.
46:29Because if the future is more deforestation, we want to be ready for that.
46:34We want to be able to propose, look, these are important ecological corridors.
46:39You know, we have to tell the landowners, this needs to stay and be maintained.
46:46So whitelift peccaries will help me define these corridors to maintain healthy populations of wildlife.
46:54They aren't cute or cuddly.
47:00They're messy and they stink.
47:06Yet the white-lipped peccaries are the unlikely and unsung conservation heroes of the Pantanal.
47:13And as long as they roam, the more glamorous animals of this amazing region will too.
47:25So I think that's what makes it a great model.
47:29We know we don't have to be able to manage these corridors and the real world.
47:34If you want them to come, we can see, like, what should we make for?
47:37You grew up with a few pillars to be able to manage these corridors of all these corridors and to be able to achieve them?
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