Pantanal
Pantanal, one of the largest freshwater wetland areas in the world. It lies in South America along the Paraguay River and covers more than 54,000 square miles (140,000 km2) in Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay. The Pantanal is an enormous plain containing forests, grasslands, lagoons, and marshes. Annual flooding of the wetland helps support a vast abundance and variety of wildlife. Hundreds of species of birds have been identified in the Pantanal, and capybaras, jaguars, and macaws thrive there. Few people live in the Pantanal, but the wetland is threatened by human activity such as agriculture, deforestation, illegal hunting, and mining.