ntanal Fires Surge Amid Drought, Threaten Wildlife

Fires continued to ravage the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland in central western Brazil, video and drone footage showed, as the blaze gradually advanced toward the Bolivian border.

The blaze, a result of weak rains since late last year which have disrupted the usual seasonal flooding and left more of the region vulnerable to fires, started earlier in June and have surged nearly tenfold so far this year to the highest levels since 2020, when the biome suffered its worst blazes on record.

Satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) showed a 980% increase in the number of fires in the Pantanal through June 5, compared with the same period of last year. The figures have raised alarms as the region heads into the riskiest season for wildfires, which usually starts in July and peaks in August and September.

World Wildlife Foundation Brazil expressed concerns that the ongoing fires could mirror those of 2020, when, according to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 16% of the entire Brazilian Pantanal was incinerated. The Pantanal wetlands is roughly 10 times the size of the Florida everglades and are home to jaguars, tapirs, caimans, anacondas and giant anteaters.

Brazil's government had signed a pact with state governors in the Pantanal and Amazon regions to fight wildfires. Mato Grosso do Sul, a state containing most of the country's Pantanal, has already declared an environmental emergency.