17 million animals die in Brazil wildfires

Brazilian
scientists have concluded that almost 17 million animals – including birds, reptiles,
and primates have died in 2020 due to the massive wildfires that raged across
the Pantanal wetlands. The flames fanned from January to November, managing to
destroy 30% of the largest tropical wetland in the world.

The head of
science of WWF-Brazil, Dr Mariana Napolitano Ferreira, explained that 22.000
separate fires broke out in 2020. However, the aim of the new research is to
prevent such disasters from occurring again.

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Dr Alex
Lees, an ecologist hailing from Manchester Metropolitan University, noted that
though the Pantanal burns naturally, the 2020 wildfires could be categorized as
‘apocalyptic’. Having worked extensively in Central Brazil, including the
Pantanal, Dr Lees was suitably positioned to distinguish between the burning
and recovery cycle the region usually experiences, and the fires that occurred last
year.

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He stated
their unusualness lay in the scale and linkage to the drought in that area, then.
Dr Lees proclaimed that the Pantanal cannot keep burning every year, if we
expect the biodiversity to recover.

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Within 48
hours of the fire, scientists reached the wetlands for their body counting exercise.
They tried to identify all the dead animals found and managed to pinpoint the
species of 300 such creatures. Extrapolating this data, they estimated the
total number of animals killed. Dr Walfrido Moraes Tomas,
the ecologist leading the research, did not express surprise at the number of total
animals killed. However, he was taken aback by how some species were hit
harder.

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For example, snakes died a lot, and since they
prey on frogs and small mammals, one has to consider the cascading effects on
the ecosystem. Although the initial impact was shocking itself, the more
pressing need is to observe how long the ecosystem takes to recover after the
fires, according to the team.

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It has also been pointed out how climate change brought on by humans directly causes such fires. However, researchers hope that
the study will help bolster development of proper policies and strategies for
fire management.