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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