Paraguay

América del Sur

197

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Paraguay is split in two by the river that gives it its name. To the east, the Oriental region held the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest, of which a reduced fraction remains today, protected in reserves such as Mbaracayú, with jaguars, guans and the bellbird, whose metallic call carries a great distance. To the west stretches the Chaco, an immense plain of thorn forest and palm groves that is the largest continuous dry forest in South America and also one of the territories with the highest deforestation rate in the world. In the north, the Paraguayan Pantanal contributes seasonal wetlands with capybaras, marsh deer and waterbirds. The Chaco is also home to indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation.

The nature of Paraguay

National animal: No official national animal; the bellbird is the country's national bird

Did you know?

The taguá, a large peccary adapted to the thorny Chaco, was described in 1930 from fossils and was assumed to have been extinct for millennia. In 1975 scientists travelling through the Paraguayan Chaco found it alive and in good numbers, to the surprise of the international community and to none at all of the Ayoreo and other local peoples, who had lived alongside it and hunted it all their lives.

Biodiversity profile

Cono Sur (pais sin litoral, dividido por el rio Paraguay)Dato no disponible con precision en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Subtropical humedo (Cfa) en la Region Oriental
•Tropical semiarido (BSh) en el Chaco paraguayo (Region Occidental)

Main biomes

•Bosque Atlantico/Mata Atlantica (Region Oriental, hotspot compartido con Brasil y Argentina)
•Chaco seco (Region Occidental, compartido con Argentina, Bolivia y Brasil)
•Cerrado (fragmentos en el este)
•Pantanal (extremo norte)
•Chaco seco espinoso
•Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná
•Pantanal estacional
•Palmar de karanday
•Sabana de cerrado
•Bosque de galería
•Humedal del río Paraguay

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral); humedales fluviales del rio Paraguay de gran relevancia ecologica

Flagship wildlife

•Jaguar
•Tapir
•Oso hormiguero gigante
•Guacamayo
•Yacare (caiman)
•Tatu carreta (armadillo gigante)
•Taguá o pecarí del Chaco
•Pájaro campana
•Ciervo de los pantanos
•Armadillo gigante
•Capibara
•Lobo de crin
•Guacamayo azul y amarillo

Notable endemic species

•El Bosque Atlantico paraguayo alberga parte de la excepcional diversidad y endemismo de este hotspot (originalmente 1,5 millones de km2 a lo largo de la costa atlantica sudamericana, hoy con habitat severamente reducido)
•Taguá o pecarí del Chaco

Notable threatened species

•Jaguar (En Peligro en Paraguay por perdida de habitat en el Chaco)
•Tatu carreta (Vulnerable)
•Especies del Bosque Atlantico con habitat historicamente muy fragmentado

Notable protected areas

•Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayu (Bosque Atlantico)
•Parque Nacional Defensores del Chaco
•Parque Nacional Río Negro
•Parque Nacional Ybycuí
•Lago Ypacaraí
•Parque Nacional Cerro Corá

Main conservation threats

•Deforestacion acelerada del Chaco paraguayo (uno de los frentes de deforestacion mas rapidos del mundo por expansion ganadera)
•Fragmentacion historica severa del Bosque Atlantico
•Perdida de habitat para grandes mamiferos como el jaguar

Conservation

The Chaco records one of the fastest rates of conversion from forest to cattle pasture on the planet, which directly threatens the taguá and the giant armadillo. Mbaracayú protects one of the last significant blocks of Atlantic Forest in the country, in a biome that has lost most of its original extent.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Defensores del Chaco in the dry season for taguá and large mammals. Mbaracayú at dawn for the bellbird. The Paraguayan Pantanal between May and September for waterbirds.

Sources: Interactive Country Fiches (UNEP-GRID) - Biodiversity Paraguay | PMC - Diversity and conservation of legumes in the Gran Chaco

Freshwater