There are cities, ports, bridges, and industries in many parts of the Amazon, such as the city of Manaus, where many Brazilian Amazon cruises embark and disembark. The truth is that most native people in the Amazon live much like you and me. They are not aggressive and prefer to stay away from other civilizations. Some uncontacted tribes still exist in South America, and nearly all of them are in the deepest parts of the Amazon, far from the regions where tourists visit. What about uncontacted tribes armed with bows and arrows? But you wouldn’t want to be walking underneath when this happens as a falling cannonball fruit could quite easily cause a fatal injury. Both are often used in creating poisonous arrows by indigenous tribes that kill through contact with blood and result in asphyxiation.Īnother danger you might not think of is from above! The Cannonball Tree that grows in the tropical rainforests of South America can grow up to 35 meters tall but have very hard and heavy fruits, not unlike a coconut that often falls to the ground with a loud explosion, hence the name. Strychnos and Curare are two Amazonian plants that are infamously poisonous. It’s not just the animals of the Amazon you have to watch out for. However, it still pays to be wary as this fish is thought to be the inspiration behind a local Amazonian legend that refers to an evil spirit said to inhabit the body of a huge scaly fish capable of leaping out of the water and knocking out fishermen in a torpedo-style attack. In fact, being an important food source for indigenous tribes, they are vulnerable to being hunted by people, so much so that the Brazilian government has banned commercial fishing of the arapaima. Unlike many of the creatures profiled in this list, they don’t pose a threat to humans. Its tough armor-like scales make it immune to piranhas, whilst a powerful set of jaws make it a pretty fearsome predator all around. It feeds primarily on fish and crustaceans but is also partial to striking down small land animals who happen to be near the shore. Nicknamed the ‘dinosaur fish of the amazon’, the arapaima is one of the largest carnivorous freshwater fish in the world, spanning 2 meters on average and coming in at over 100kg, though there are also cases measuring a whopping 15 feet. So perhaps they’re the ones who should be scared of us!Īrapaima Gigas One Largest Freshwater Fish And River Lakes 6. Piranha also makes a delicious meal and on an Amazon river cruise, you may have a chance to fish for piranhas. At the very most you may just feel a light nibble on your toes or fingers. You can swim safely with piranha in most places in the Amazon River. They are actually more innocent than they seem. In actual fact, red-bellied piranhas are primarily scavengers, feeding mainly on other fish (usually already dead or dying), insects, and plant life. With its razor-sharp triangular-shaped teeth, powerful jaw, and fearsome-looking red eyes, the piranha certainly looks pretty terrifying.īut you’ll be glad to learn that their aggressive reputation is largely overstated, especially when it comes to people. There are plentiful stories of large mammals and even humans being targeted and eaten alive in the water, as depicted in several well-known Hollywood movies. This fearsome-looking fish has a reputation for “feeding frenzies” whereby large schools swarm around prey stripping all the flesh from the bones within a matter of minutes. Here then is a list of the top dangers of the Amazon River, profiling some of the scariest and most dangerous animals in the Amazon Rainforest, but with some helpful myth-busting along the way. The sheer size of the Amazon Basin has contributed to its mystery, as does the fact that it remains mostly unexplored to this day.Īs one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth, the Amazon is home to its fair share of creepy crawlies and monstrous creatures. Today, our knowledge of Amazonia is not as extensive as most other environments on earth, and this gives rise both to its fascinating allure, but also to misgivings amongst those people wishing to visit about the dangers of the Amazon River and the creatures therein (and in its neighboring rainforest). Even its name, ‘Amazon’ is a result of fatal encounters with its indigenous inhabitants, as the early Spanish explorers mistook the female warriors of the tribes of the South American jungle with the ancient Amazons, the legendary fighting women of Asia and Africa, as described by the Greek historians Herodotus and Diodorus. Ever since Europeans arrived on the continent of South America, the Amazon has been the stuff of legend, a realm full of adventure yet fraught with perilous dangers.
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