green eyes..wow!
Orinoco River Basin, South America
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“For handbags, belts, and shoes, Orinoco crocodiles in South America were hunted ruthlessly for decades. By the mid-1960s they had been nearly wiped out in the Orinoco River Basin of Venezuela and Colombia. In 1976 hunting was banned, but the damage was done: A census found fewer than 300 animals. Conservationists and scientists have worked hard to bring back this beleaguered reptile, which can exceed 20 feet [6 meters] in length. Four captive breeding centers in Venezuela have reared and released more than 1,300 crocodiles into the Orinoco and its tributaries since 1990."
Minkébé Reserve, Gabon
Photograph by Michael K. Nichols
“In humid valleys, amphibians thrive, including a frog camouflaged in sand. Efforts are under way to protect these ecosystems by placing them in the Minkébé Reserve [in Gabon].”
Venezuela
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“Abandoned by the river that once fed it, a pond-become-pavement affords a caiman—a cousin to the alligator—no refuge from the desiccating heat of the dry season. On this sunbaked plain, which sits only 8° north of the Equator, the soil temperature can hit 130°F [55°C].”
Venezuela
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“A spiky iguana looks positively punk in the company of tuxedoed stilts. As the dry season wrings ever more moisture from the llanos [the vast grasslands of Venezuela’s interior], creatures congregate at shrinking pools that concentrate fish and freshwater shrimp and set a banquet for waterbirds.”
Orinoco River Basin, South America
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“For handbags, belts, and shoes, Orinoco crocodiles in South America were hunted ruthlessly for decades. By the mid-1960s they had been nearly wiped out in the Orinoco River Basin of Venezuela and Colombia. In 1976 hunting was banned, but the damage was done: A census found fewer than 300 animals. Conservationists and scientists have worked hard to bring back this beleaguered reptile, which can exceed 20 feet [6 meters] in length. Four captive breeding centers in Venezuela have reared and released more than 1,300 crocodiles into the Orinoco and its tributaries since 1990."
Minkébé Reserve, Gabon
Photograph by Michael K. Nichols
“In humid valleys, amphibians thrive, including a frog camouflaged in sand. Efforts are under way to protect these ecosystems by placing them in the Minkébé Reserve [in Gabon].”
Venezuela
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“Abandoned by the river that once fed it, a pond-become-pavement affords a caiman—a cousin to the alligator—no refuge from the desiccating heat of the dry season. On this sunbaked plain, which sits only 8° north of the Equator, the soil temperature can hit 130°F [55°C].”
Venezuela
Photograph by Robert Caputo
“A spiky iguana looks positively punk in the company of tuxedoed stilts. As the dry season wrings ever more moisture from the llanos [the vast grasslands of Venezuela’s interior], creatures congregate at shrinking pools that concentrate fish and freshwater shrimp and set a banquet for waterbirds.”