An unwelcome pet - A cobra in the garden

In Brazil and particularly in the Amazon region the word: cobra is used for snake. Any snake is called cobra, whatever the scientific or popular name. A snake is a cobra and a cobra is a snake. Period. So the cobra is going to town. The deforestation of the Amazon causes an invasion of cobras in the neighbourhoods of Belém, according to Ibama, the governmental environment institute. Only this year already 21 cobras are reported by the citizenry, while last year an average of 2 reports per month came in.

Up till now no venomous snake has been caught, although they found species of some 3 meter long. Imagine the fear of the people to step into their garden with the chance to stand eye to eye with a 3 meter long cobra ready to attack. According to Ibama, the infiltration of cobras in the town is a direct result of the illegal deforestation activities in the areas around Belém.

"The deforestation destroys the habitat of the snakes and they move into town", declares a spokeswoman for Ibama. After they have caught the cobras Ibama brings them to local zoological gardens or places them back into the natural habitat of ecological reservations.

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Climate Change and Evolution - The Amazônia

During a virtual safari visitors of the Futuroscope in Poitiers (France) can learn about future animals. An exposition shows how the fauna of our planet will be over some million years.

It is not likely that anyone of us will have the pleasure to experience the changes and meet the future animals personally, but it is a good thing to know how our fauna will evolve taking into account our destructive way-of-life.
The exposition is a result of scientific studies and projections with regards to the influence of climate change and future landslides. The sketched environment and the animals are the results of a theory developed by British scientists, who studied the geological movements of the earth, the climate and the capacity of the fauna to adapt itself towards its new habitat.

Living in the delta of the Amazônia I restrict this overview to the “evolution” of the Amazônia fauna referring to the pictures (from top to bottom), whereas, as far as, known the “ancestor” is situated aside of the “evolved” descendant.

The “Baboukari” is the descendant of the “White Uacari Monkey with the Red Face” (Cacajo calvus), which, according to researchers can only be found in the Amazônia reservation Mamirauá. Little is known about the Uacari, except that it is already close to extinction. In the theory of the future the “baboukari” will not live in trees any longer as there will be no more trees in the Amazônia. The baboukari will use their tail, not for balancing between branches, but to communicate with each other in the high vegetation of the savannah like habitat, which is the future of the Amazônia region.

The “Tortunossauro” evolves from the Giant Tortoise (Podocnemis expansa). In 100 million years ............... continue reading

Eco-friendly Condom From The Amazon

It is unlikely you ever will get a chance to use the “Green Johnny”, a male preservative based on eco-friendly extracted natural latex from the Amazônia rainforest. Maybe when you ever visit Brazil during the carnival or one of the holiday centres you might be offered one of the 120 million condoms courtesy of the federal government of Brazil. Brazil’s Public Health Ministry distributes the free condoms as part of its successful Health Programs to combat STD/Aids.

Up till now the approx. 120 million condoms are imported from China, South Korea and Thailand, made from cultivated rubber trees. That will change soon.

Natex, a Brazilian company founded by the Public Health Ministry and the government of the federal state of Acre, will manufacture male preservatives from pure natural latex extracted from the Amazon rainforest in a sustainable and eco-friendly way. The condoms will be solely sold to the federal government for its national program to combat STD/Aids.
The expected initial production will be 100 million pieces a year. The factory, the only one in the world to use natural latex as raw material, will have a future capacity of 270 million condoms a year. The construction of the factory is based upon sustainable, social and environmental development.
Natex will create 150 direct jobs and employ 700 native families of the Chico Mendes reservation for the supply of the raw material. It is estimated that in the Amazon rainforest of Acre some 70.000 native rubber tappers are active.

source: Flores & Versos
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