Member of the boa family, South America’s green anaconda is, pound for pound, the largest snake in the world. Although the reticulated python can reach slightly greater lengths, the enormous girth of the anaconda makes it almost twice as heavy.

Green anacondas typically grow to around 20 feet (6 meters) in length and weigh around 330 lbs (149 kgs). However, they can grow to more than 30 feet (9 meters) in length, weigh over 500 lbs (226 kgs), and measure 30 centimetres (12 inches) in diameter. Females are significantly larger than males and green anacondas exhibit the greatest size difference between the sexes of any terrestrial vertebrate. Other anaconda species, all from South America and all smaller than the green anaconda, are the yellow, dark-spotted, and Bolivian varieties.

As the name suggests, the green anaconda is olive green in colour, and contains black smudges running across the entire length of its body. The head of the green anaconda snake is narrower than the rest of its body and is characterized by a distinctive orange-yellow striping on either side. Apart from the above mentioned physical features, the green anacondas also have scales. There are claw-like spurs located on either side of the cloaca (the cavity into which the genito-urinary and digestive tracts of the anaconda snakes empty). This is the only region of the green anaconda snake’s body that does not have scales, and which emits a musk with a foul odour that is poisonous to small organisms. Perhaps this is a mode whereby the green anaconda snake prevents leeches and ticks from attaching themselves to its cloaca. Analogous with the fingerprint of a human, the pattern of scales found along the yellow and black underside of the lower tail of the green anacondas is unique to each anaconda snake.

Green anacondas dwell mainly in the marshes and swamps in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of northern South America. They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water. Their eyes and nasal openings are on top of their heads, allowing them to lay in wait for prey while remaining nearly completely submerged.

They reach their monumental size on a diet of wild pigs, deer, birds, turtles, capybara, caimans, and even jaguars. Anacondas are nonvenomous constrictors, coiling their muscular bodies around captured prey and squeezing until the animal asphyxiates. Jaws attached by stretchy ligaments allow them to swallow their prey whole, no matter the size, and they can go weeks or months without food after a big meal.

Green anacondas are ‘ovoviviparous,’ which means that the females carry the eggs within their bodies until the babies are ready to hatch. Females give birth to two to three dozen live young. Baby snakes are about 2 feet (0.6 meters) long when they are born and are almost immediately able to swim and hunt. From birth to adulthood, the green anaconda undergoes a dramatic 500-fold increase in mass, a greater increase than any other snake species. Their lifespan in the wild is about ten years.

Green anacondas continue to interest and amaze people the world over but they face a number of threats, which could have a significant impact on their population. They are hunted, both legally and illegally, in many parts of its range for its skins and for sale in the growing, illegal pet trade. They are also the victims of human prejudice and ignorance. Local people kill thousands of anacondas every year under the pretext of protecting livestock, pets or even people. However, in many cases, a widespread fear and dislike of snakes results in individuals of this species being persecuted, even when found in remote areas. Habitat loss and degradation are also threatening this species, and even in areas where habitat protection exists, a lack of enforcement is allowing illegal deforestation to occur.

The Andes Mountain Range runs the length of Western South America, making it the longest range on Earth. Along the length of the range lies the preferred habitat of the largest flying land bird in the world, a scavenger of the New World vulture family, called the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus). These birds are absolutely massive, and, though rare, may be seen soaring the thermals in the upper reaches of the mountains, and high above canyons trying to catch the scent of carrion, their sole food.

Andean Condors are tremendous vultures, and they have the overall appearance and body shape of many other species of the genus Vultur. They are, however, more powerfully built than most vultures, and appear muscular, like hawks or eagles, as they are not as scraggly and slender looking as other vultures. Andean condors are black, with white rings around the neck, and white patches on the wings (which are more prominent in males). These giant vultures have bald heads, which are made of dark gray and red skin. The adult males have large combs on top of their heads, and waddles under their necks. Male Andean condors have heads that look similar to those of tom (male) wild turkeys, except the vultures’ heads are larger, and have hooked bills, like those of hawks.

Andean condors are some of the largest birds in the world that fly, and, although their smaller vulture relatives to the north, California condors, are often mistaken for small planes, these South American birds are more deserving of the error. The wingspan of Andean condors can reach about 11 feet, and their bodies (measured from beak to tail) can grow to over five feet in length. South American condors can weigh up to about 33 lbs.

Andean condors are found throughout the Andes Mountains, and in neighbouring areas as well. They have an established presence in Northern Columbia and have been seen in Venezuela, and they may also be found in Central Bolivia, but their main range runs from Southern Columbia, through Western Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and all of Chile. They prefer higher altitudes, where they can be spotted soaring as they try to catch the scent of dead, rotting animals. Andean condors live in mountainous prairie regions, as well as open grasslands near mountains, and in the desert areas that are found near the Andes. They may also be found in lower elevations along the coasts of Peru and Chile. One of the best spots to see these birds flying is in Colca Canyon, Peru.

These birds are truly majestic and you should make the effort to see them when in South America.

The Jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar’s present range extends from Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 1900s. The Amazon Rainforest remains the key stronghold for the jaguar where they thrive along riversides, lakes and streams in the dense jungle canopy.

This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioural and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrain. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is a largely solitary, stalk-and-ambush predator, and is opportunistic in prey selection. It is also an apex and keystone predator, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of prey species. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.

The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still regularly killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America.

One of the best places to see the jaguar in the wild is in the Pantanal, Brazil. Other good places include Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Preserve in Belize and Iwokrama Forest in Guyana.

Launched in 2007 by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, this wonderful, screen-filling, animated blue-whale banner — which is composed of 10,000 JPEG images — opens with an intimidating close-up of the giant whale’s eye. As you scroll along its side, tiny bubbles and otherworldly sounds create the eerie impression that you’re drifting alongside the mammal. It’s a humbling experience — like exploring the surface of a new, and beautiful, planet.

The Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales (called Mysticeti). At up to 32.9 metres (108 ft) in length and 172 metric tons or more in weight, it is the largest animal ever known to have existed.

Blue Whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans until the beginning of the twentieth century. For over 40 years, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 Blue Whales worldwide, located in at least five groups. More recent research into the Pygmy subspecies suggests this may be an underestimate. Before whaling, the largest population was in the Antarctic, numbering approximately 239,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000). There remain only much smaller (around 2,000) concentrations in each of the North-East Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean groups. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic, and at least two in the Southern Hemisphere.

The amazing mating display of the marvellous spatuletail hummingbird has been filmed in full for the first time.

The spatuletail hummingbird is among the most rare and striking of birds.

By using a high speed camera, a BBC natural history film crew was the first to capture the mating sequence in super slow motion.

The crew also filmed a male advertising in front of a female, and solved a mystery of how the male birds make a snapping sound during the display.

The mating display of the marvellous spatuletail hummingbird (Loddigesia mirabilis) is captured for the BBC natural history series Life.

To view please click on the word hummingbird

The diminutive spectacled bear makes its home in the dense Andean jungles of South America, and it has the distinction of being the continent’s only bear.

Spectacled bears wear shaggy fur that is black, brown, or sometimes reddish. They are so named for the whitish to yellowish rings that encircle their eyes, resembling large eyeglasses. These lines, however, don’t always fully encircle the eyes, and some individuals lack the markings altogether.

Spectacled bears, also called Andean bears, are among the smallest members of the family Ursidae. Males, which are significantly larger than females, grow over 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 340 pounds (154 kilograms). Females rarely weigh more than 180 pounds (82 kilograms).

Intensely shy bears, they prefer the lush, isolated cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes, climbing as high as 14,000 feet (4,300 meters). They will descend to search for food though, and have been seen in widely differing habitats, from rain forests, to steppe lands, to coastal deserts.

Spectacled bears are generally nocturnal and are primarily vegetarian, harvesting fruit, berries, cacti, and honey. Highly agile climbers, they have been known to sit in a tree for days on a platform made of broken branches, waiting for fruit to ripen. They have extremely strong jaws and wide, flat molars to chew tough vegetation such as tree bark and orchid bulbs. Occasionally they will supplement their diet with meat, taking small rodents, birds, insects, and even small cows, making them the largest carnivores in South America.

Solitary animals, mature spectacled bears are normally seen together only during mating season. Females usually give birth to one or two small, helpless cubs, which are mobile after a month, but remain with the mother for up to eight months, often hitching a ride on the mother’s back.

Population data are sketchy, but some estimates suggest fewer than 3,000 spectacled bears may remain in the wild today. Their numbers suffer primarily from destruction and fragmentation of their habitat. Poachers also hunt them for their meat and body parts, and farmers kill them as agricultural pests. They are currently listed as vulnerable to extinction.

The Giant Anteater is the largest species of anteater. This large, hairy mammal lives in grasslands, savannas and open tropical forests in Central and South America.

The anteater grows to lengths of 1-2 m and reaches weights in the range of 25-39 kg. Long straw-like brown-black fur covers its body which grows to lengths of up to 40 cm on its bushy tail. It has a black and white stripe that runs along each side of its body.

Anteaters are edentate animals – they have no teeth. But their long tongues (60 cm) are more than sufficient to lap up the 30,000 ants and termites they swallow whole each day.

The anteater uses its sharp claws to tear an opening into an anthill and put its long snout and efficient tongue to work. But it has to eat quickly, flicking its tongue up to 160 times per minute. Ants fight back with painful stings, so an anteater may spend only a minute feasting on each mound. Anteaters never destroy a nest, preferring to return and feed again in the future.

The anteater’s front limbs are strong and provide some defence against its natural predators, the puma and the jaguar. Long, sturdy claws adorn its front limbs. When walking, the giant anteater protects these front claws by walking on its knuckles.

Little is known about the courtship and mating habits of giant anteaters. It is believed that males and females come together only to mate. The mother carries the young inside her for 190 days. The mother gives birth while standing and will use her long tail like a third leg for support.

At birth, the baby immediately scrambles onto its mother’s back. It has a complete coat of fur that is so similar in colour to its mother’s that the youngster is often difficult to recognize when it is with its mother. The mother suckles her young for about six months. During this time, the baby will cling to its mother’s back, although it is able to walk a month after birth. The offspring is slow to mature; it does not become independent until the mother is pregnant again and will not feed on its own until it is two years old.

The giant anteater and the other three species of anteater live only in Central and South America. The giant anteater is the most vulnerable species of anteater and is likely to become in danger of extinction in the next few years, unless measures are taken now.

An arribada (mass synchronised sea turtle nesting) is a unique nesting phenomenon common to both the Olive ridley and the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. The best place to witness an arribada is Ostional beach on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Arribadas at this beach are considered the largest in the world, with as many as a million sea turtle eggs laid in the beach nesting areas each year. Arribadas occur on a lunar cycle of approximately 28 days. The majority occur around the start of the last quarter moon; however, this event may take place at any time including the full moon, and two arribadas (first and last quarter) may occur in the same month. The size and duration of the arribadas varies between the dry and wet seasons. Those occurring in the dry season of January to April tend to be smaller (approximately 5,000 turtles) and of shorter duration (less than four days). In the wet season of May to December, up to 300,000 turtles may lay over a period of 8 to 10 days. On a number of occasions between August and October, two arribadas of 10 days each have occurred in the same month. This results in continuous activity during the month with a few days of lower activity and two peaks of maximum nesting.

Observing one of these mass synchronised nesting’s is a must for nature and wildlife enthusiasts. The best months to see the biggest arribadas are between July and December. If you would like to volunteer in Ostional Wildlife Refuge please contact Volunteer Latin America.