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More than two million animals have been killed in wildfires in Bolivia in recent weeks.
Jaguars, pumas, llamas, ocelots, lizards, rodents, and animals of other species have perished in the blazes, which have ripped through the Chiquitania tropical savanna in the east of the country.
Fire
According to reports, around 10 million acres of Bolivian forest and grassland have been devastated by the flames since August.
Despite major firefighting efforts, including special firefighting planes, helicopters, and 5,000 firefighters, soldiers and police among other measures, the fires have not yet been extinguished.
‘Irreversible damage’
“We have consulted the biologists of Chiquitania and we have exceeded the estimate of more than 2.3 million missing animals in many protected areas,” Professor Sandra Quiroga of Santa Cruz University told AFP.
“The forest is totally charred and the damage is irreversible. It will never get back to normal.”
Environmentalists are blaming leftwing president Evo Morales, who, in a bid to increase agricultural production, has encouraged the burning of forest and pasture land, though the government has cited dry weather and flame-fanning winds as factors.
