"No! I don't! I really don't want to go..."
This "panic duck" who shook his head was actually an indigenous wetland system: the white-eyed diving duck.
Photograph by JOEL SARTORE
If you live a carefree life in "heaven",
Don't you hate the people who pulled you into "hell"?
And for wildlife,
Where is their paradise?
And who pulled them from heaven into Paradise Lost?
Photo by DAVID DOUBILET AND JENNIFER HAYES
The ocean is the "heart of the earth",
The whole world is full of vitality in the rhythm of the waves;
Forests are the "lungs of the earth",
Countless leaves silently breathe out the turbid breath at night;
Photo by TETSUYA HOSOKAWA
Finally, the "paradise" that wild animals are most enthusiastic about -
"Kidney of the Earth" wetland,
The dry and wet of the world are reconciled with the yin and yang here,
The sun shines, the water and grass are lush and full of life,
Countless lives flourish here,
It's home to the best of wildlife.
ACE Basin, South Carolina, USA
摄影：VINCENT J. MUSI, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
On World Wetlands Day on 2 February, wetlands serve as ecosystems that provide a living environment for 40% of the planet's biological species, and some wetlands are among the most biodiverse areas on earth. Wetlands, together with forests and oceans, are known as the three major ecosystems of the earth. About 1,500 species of wetland animals (excluding insects, invertebrates, fungi and microorganisms) and about 1,040 species of fish have been recorded in China alone. There are about 500 species of freshwater fish in fish, accounting for more than 80% of the total number of freshwater fish in the world.
So, from an economic or ecological point of view,
Wetlands are among the most valuable and productive ecosystems.
Creatures of heaven
The world's largest wetland, the Pantanal Wetland.
Photo by YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND, GETTY IMAGES
Ever heard of the Amazon?
Know another wildlife paradise in Brazil?
Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world, covering an area of 210,000 square kilometers. Located in central South America, most of it belongs to the central and western parts of Brazil and crosses the paraguay-Bolivian border. The reputation of the Pantanal wetlands is often overshadowed by the Amazon in the north, but it is home to the densest concentration of wildlife in South America.
The Pantanal wetlands are rich in species, from jaguars to alligators to purple and blue macaws.
Photo by Markus Mauthe, laif/Redux
Pantanal is both a National Park and a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site and is listed by WWF as one of the key regions in the world. It is estimated that there are 325 species of fish, 159 species of mammals, 656 species of birds, 53 species of amphibians and 98 species of reptiles.
In Pantanal, Brazil, six-banded armadillos can bathe in beautiful love all year round. When the male six-banded armadillo catches the scent of the female during the estrus period, it will pursue it. The woman pulled out her leg and ran, and a group of males chased after her unremittingly. And they can mate when they run, and enjoy love freely and vigorously in the rich and moist fields.
In Pantanal, a female waterhopper strangles her husband after mating. This is the first time a photographer has captured such a scene. During the 7 months of pregnancy, the female python has been in a non-feeding state, the male python is an excellent source of protein supplementation, the female is much larger than the male, it is too easy to eat.
Photo by Luciano Candisani
De's long-tailed monkey. Also known as the white-rumped long-tailed monkey. Like an old pedantic look, he is also known as the "doctor monkey". It is mainly distributed in the wetlands of central Africa.
African spoonbills, widely distributed in Africa, inhabit swampy wetlands and nest on trees or reed pads.
White-eyed diving ducks are typical of the southern Palearctics, and are extremely good at diving, inhabiting lakes and wetlands in freshwater or brackish water.
The little flamingo, also known as the little flamingo, is the smallest flamingo that inhabits wetlands along the coast or in saltwater lakes. Social animals with a lifespan of up to 20-25 years.
At the Martin Wetland Centre in Bursco, England, a Chilean flamingo stops to enjoy a meal.
Photo by Ivan Vidakovic You're in charge
The white-headed hard-tailed duck is said to be the prototype of the Donald duck. Males have blue beaks and females are black and endangered. Xinjiang, China, is their easternmost distribution point, and the White Bird Lake Wetland is a stable breeding site. In recent years, due to the development around the lake and the interference of tourists, the number of white-headed hard-tailed ducks in the lake area has also decreased.
The white autumn sand duck (Mergellus albellus), the male's eyes, back and back are black, and it is easy to recognize when flying black and white; the head and neck of the female are usually chestnut. Most of them inhabit wetland environments such as seashores and rivers, live in groups, and feed on small fish.
Vanishing swamps
In the waters of Pantanaal, a hungry caiman wears translucent "swimming goggles" and "smirks" at the fish.
Photo by LUCIANO CANDISANI, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
After the 2020 Pantanal fire, caimans died everywhere on the side of the road, like dry wood. Caimans who have lost their water source are extremely vulnerable.
Photo by EDSON VANDEIRA
"I have lived to this day,
I never thought I would bring water to the Pantanal Wetlands. ”
The phrase comes from Carla Sássi, coordinator of a local nonprofit animal disaster relief organization in Brazil. This sentence is not exaggerated, but it also reflects that last year's long-lasting fires have dealt a deep blow to the largest and least water-scarce wetlands on Earth. According to NASA satellites, the biggest fire in the Pantanal wetlands in 2020 was four times larger than the biggest fires in the Amazon rainforest; 20 percent of panther habitat in Pantanal has been burned down since January last year.
In the northern part of the Pantanal Wetlands, a snake was killed by fire on the side of the road.
Rescue organization coordinator Carla Sássi cared for a proboscis raccoon whose paws were badly burned, but it later died.
Veterinary volunteers are rescuing a burned lowland tapir.
Forced to leave the wetlands, or even die,
Not just animals;
Humans who once lived in swamps were also forced to flee.
Fall into the shade.
Taken in the distant 1960s, this is a classic scene of a Madan wetland village. Buffalo is indispensable to the Madan people.
Photo by Tor Eigeland
The Ma'dan (also known as the Swamp Arabs) have been living an indisputable, peaceful life in the "paradise of the wetlands." Above the wetlands of Mesopotamia, where their ancestors have lived for more than 2,000 years, the water source is almost gone.
In 1967, a floating village of Iraqi Madan people was seen through the shelves of a traditional reed house under construction. Norwegian photographer Tor Eigeland visited the site in 1967, when the wetlands were still abundant.
The water source on which the Madans depended for their livelihood but disappeared in large areas was the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The wetland habitat of the Madan people was once known as the legendary "Garden of Eden". By 1991, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein retaliated against the Madan uprising. In a fit of rage, he drained vast wetlands and expelled the Madans by force, making the "swamp Arabs" the most miserable Iraqi people; in addition, the wildlife of the area died due to water shortages, and the huge and fertile wetlands caused irreparable damage.
Young Madan girls watch their mother weave with an ancient and primitive loom.
Except for Antarctica, wetland traces can be found all over the world. According to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, wetlands account for 6% of the world's land area, with a total area of about 5.7 million square kilometers; Canada has the largest wetland area in the world, with about 1.27 million square kilometers.
And from 1900 onwards,
The world lost about half of its wetlands in a century.
Once the Pantanal Wetlands
The wetlands of the Indian state of Gujarat are located on the routes that bird migration must take, and every winter, millions of birds migrating south gather to refuel.
Photo by Navtej Singh
In Russia, rigs have been built on fragile wetlands, and leaked pipelines have contaminated much of the area. From this point of view, the rig is like a "virus" infecting the "alveoli".
Photo by GERD LUDWIG
If wild animals very much want to live in wetland "paradise",
Then forcibly beat them into the "hell" of the human world,
Also become a demon.
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