Jungle Fears - Animals

Feeling defenseless in the jungle against invading critters, riding the waves of fear in the Peruvian Amazon. 

Insects & Arachnids:

When the sun goes down, headlamps are the only thing safely getting you from point A to point B in a jungle village.  Whether you are going from the kitchen to the sleeping quarters or from your hammock to the bathroom.  Nothing prepares you for the possible critters that you will encounter, some of which are not just dangerous, but deadly.  Because most of the villages have cement sidewalks, those are the safest thing to follow, but because they retain the heat, at night critters are attracted to them. 

On one occasion, quickly unzipping my army hammock (which has the mosquito netting on top) a couple of friends and I slipped on our shoes and headed toward the bathroom.  Already fearful that every noise was an animal about to kill us, we stumbled upon nothing more than a tarantula the size of my head! 

Yes a tarantula, a black tarantula which are very dangerous due to their potent venom.

The friends I was with were girls, so the inevitable scream came next.  It was like they were in a horror film.  Of course the rest of the guys came out then, thinking someone was dying, but finding out everyone was safe,  we just started taking pictures of it.

  

Tarantula’s are scary, but they are almost as scared of you as you are of them, so don’t think that they are going to attack you when you least expect it.  They are more interested in large insects, birds, and small mammals than in humans. 

There are other tropical spiders that you should be worried about.  The rule of thumb is the smaller and the more colorful they are, the more poisonous they are.  Don’t go putting your hands in places that you cant see, especially in places like thached roofing of houses and boats, that is where they like to hide particularly in the day time.

Other insects to worry about are catepillars, mosquitoes, flies, ticks, beetles, ants, and fleas.  Of course you will see tons of insects because 90% of the Amazonian jungle animals are insects.  A single square mile of rainforest is often home to more than 50,000 insect species.  Caterpillars shouldn’t be touched because many of them can  bite and sting, and those with pointy spikes on their backs may inject poison.  Many of the bright-colored beetles are full of poison and by native tribes are often ground up and used to tip arrows and spears.  The ground is ruled by ants like fire ants and army ants which can sting or bite through the skin.  Army ants are common in tropical environments and are aggressive and predatory insects which capture insects, spiders, and small vertebrates, and differ from other ants because they build living nests with their bodies called bivouacs in trees and burrows.  The air is ruled by mosquitoes and flies which are common disease vectors.  Mosquitoes especially the Aedes egypti mosquito are known to transmit malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever.  Some flies such as sand flies transmit Leishmaniasis, Oroya fever, and Pappataci fever.  Some of the most common insects are:

Rhino beetle, Leaf-cutter ant, Metallic gold riondinidae, Paper wasps, Orange-striped paracaidas, Black butterfly, Deep red millipede, Copper grasshopper, Green mantid, Black beetle, Brachydiplax dragonfly, Giant tiger centipede, Leaf bugs, Pill millipede ball, Comet moth, Long horned grasshoppers, Giraffe necked weevil, Iguaze butterfly, Praying mantis, Dung beetle, Brown cicada, Huntsman spiders, Brown cicada, Heliconius sara butterfly, Honey bee, Red spider, Ceiba borer beetle, Stick insects, Owl butterfly, Fire ants, Black-winged heliconius, Stag beetles, Army ants, Orange-striped paracaidas, Fire beast caterpillar, Tropical termite, Crooked jaw termite, Bumble bees, Hornet, Scoliidae wasps, Common wasps, Shield bug, Giant tiger centipede, Paper wasps, Comet moths

As you can see by the sheer numbers of jungle insects, it is vitally important to use bug spray – especially that which is high in DEET. 

  

Reptiles and Amphibians:

Tropical rainforests are home to a huge diversity of reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, and crocodiles) and amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and worm-like caecilians).  There are more than 1,000 species of frogs in the Amazon Basin often found in trees rather than in bodies of water.  Of course reptiles and amphibians are possible vectors of disease, dendrobatids are of the greatest concern.

  

Dendrobatids are the most notorious of the rainforest amphibians which are tiny, but brilliantly colored poison dart frogs.  These striking but slow-moving frogs secrete powerful toxins from glands on their backs and use their color to advertise their toxic composition to potential predators.  You should not touch them.  Tribes in the jungle dip blowgun darts in the poison as the poison is full of powerful cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloids.  A lethal dose is the equivalent to two grains of ordinary table salt.  It is one of the deadliest toxins, 15 times more potent than curare, and ten times more potent than tetrodotoxin from the puffer fish. 

Made famous around the world by the film of the same name, the anaconda snake is also known as the water boa.  The snake lives in water and swamps surrounding the Amazon and is nocturnal.  Be careful though, boas are the largest type of snake there is and anaconda are the largest type of boa there is! Anacondas are very common to be seen, and they are very scary because they are so big, they often eat animals that roam around jungle villages.

Dogs, Cats & Bats:

In Peru, wild dogs can be found almost everywhere.  They are a direct cause of zoonotic transmission of many diseases from Cryptosporidosis to helminth infections.  You really shouldn’t pet them and especially shouldn’t feed them because then they wont leave you alone.  Dogs, cats, and bats are also huge sources of rabies in the jungle.  One thing to be weary of is that bats love to hide in the toilets so its best to make some noise before going in, especially when the bathroom is outside.  There are 950 different species of bats in the Amazon, so you"d best like them!  The jungle is home to Amazonian vampire bats which are the only true vampire bat in the world.

  

Wild cats like the Ocelot and Jaguars are also sources of disease.  Intestinal diseases commonly infect cats and when they urinate in rivers where water is collected for bathing and drinking, cysts and ova are often transmitted to humans.  Of course this is one of the more rare problems.  If not a source of disease, wild cats are nocternal and territorial animals to be feared.  Ocelots are ‘dwarf leopards’ that hunt a variety of small mammals.  The free range chickens in villages are often a possible food source for them.  The Amazon Basin contains the largest population of jaguars worldwide.  The jaguar is the King of the Amazonian food chain - and when you bear in mind some of its competition, that"s some claim to fame!  You"re best chances of seeing a jaguar are if you are in a forest area, near a stream, close to nightfall - but be very careful as this is also the time the jaguar is looking for prey.

  

River-borne Animals:

Phirranas, freshwater stingrays, leeches, manatee, caiman, bull shark, aripima, arowana, candiru, and electric eel.

Movies such as James Bond made in the 1970s and 1980s have made the piranha a worldwide phenomenon.  But, did you know that there are 20 different species of the piranha in the Amazon and nearly all of them are vegetarian?  In fact, the only species of piranha that can strip flesh of an animal in double quick time are the red-bellied piranha.

Although not largely a threat to humans, the manatee is also known as the water ox - and is the Amazon"s largest marine mammal.  A fully grown adult manatee will weigh over a thousand pounds and measure over nine feet long!  Now considered an endangered species, the manatee"s closest living relative is the elephant.

Caiman are related to alligators and crocadiles and inhabit the Amazon.    Bull sharks have been seen all the way in waters surrounding Iquitos and are threats to humans.  Aripima or Paiche are one of the largest fresh water fish in the world, reportedly with a maximum length of 3 metres (9.8 ft) and weight up to 200 kilograms (440 lb), which can topple boats causing a threat to human life.  Arowana are also fish that are large predators similar to the paiche. 

Candiru are a number of general parasitic, fresh water catfish in the family Trichomycteridae; all are native to the Amazon River.  The strongly electric electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) and more than 100 species of weakly electric fishes Gymnotiformes also inhabit the Amazon Basin.  River stingrays have a venomous caudal sting, and are one of the most feared freshwater fishes in the Neotropical region, sometimes more feared than piranhas and electric eels.  However, they are not dangerous unless stepped on or otherwise threatened.

The Amazon is also home to the larges leeches in the world.  The giant Amazonian leech can grow up to 17.72 inches (450 millimeters) long and 3.93 inches (100 millimeters) wide.  There are also leeches called ‘T Rex’ which have a habit of invading an orifice and feeding on mucous membranes.  Described in a paper published April 14 in PLoS ONE, the first specimen was found by doctors in 1997 in the nose of a 6-year-old boy in San Martin, Peru. He had complained of headaches.  Another specimen was taken that year from a 16-month-old boy in Ayacucho, Peru. A decade later, a third T. rex was taken from the nose of a 9-year-old Peruvian girl who felt a “sliding” sensation in her nose. All had bathed frequently in Amazonian streams.