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Yacare Caiman

Caiman yacare

Photo by Dan Doucette
Published on Project Noah
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-16.35, -56.6667

Field Notes

Description:

medium-small sized crocodilian, most adult individuals grow to roughly 2 or 2.5 meters in length

Habitat:

pantanal, seasonally flooded grasslands and forest

Notes:

spotted this caiman near our camp in the pantanal near Campo Grande. it was fairly comfortable being very close to humans. approximately 10 million individual Yacare Caiman exist within the Brazilian Pantanal, representing what is quite possibly the largest single crocodilian population on Earth.

Reference Links:

Yacare Caiman

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)
Scott Frazier
Showing a bit of backbone...I wonder if it was healthy.
Dan Doucette
Brave? In a way I guess, most people wouldn't go this close to a caiman, but this one was more interested in a guy fishing just out of the photo and the lure of a free meal. I wasn't worried about him trying to nibble on me!
Carolina
Brave, Dan! I don't trust animals!
Dan Doucette
I added more photos to this spotting, so you can see how close I was.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
2011 Best Wildlife Photo

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Photographed
PublishedApril 24, 2011

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