Forests Pictures
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Clouds Over the Amazon
A journey through the forests of the Americas is one of extremes - flood, freeze and fire. The animals that live there not only endure, but adapt and thrive in surprising ways. As the flood season arrives in the Amazon rain forest, the largest forest on Earth, the mighty Amazon River bursts its banks and transforms a lush rain forest into a watery world where river dolphins hunt along the forest floor and an elusive jaguar takes down a caiman crocodile with stunning expertise.
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Amazonian King
The Amazon Rainforest in South America is the largest and most diverse tropical rainforest on Earth. The top predator here is the jaguar (Panthera onca). In one of the most incredible behaviors captured on camera: a jaguar hunts and kills a caiman crocodile. One of the biggest big cat in the Americas, the jaguar's signature killing technique is a bite to the brain..
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Pretty in Pink
A pink river dolphin in the Amazon. Like bats, they use sonar to navigate and find their prey. Pink river dolphins have fat, bulbous foreheads and skinny, elongated beaks suited to snatching fish in underwater branches. Unlike marine dolphins, they have unfused neck vertebrae that allow them to bend at up to a 90-degree angle - ideal for slithering through trees. They also have broad flippers, a reduced dorsal fin (a larger one would just get in the way in tight spots), and small eyes. At up to 450 pounds and eight feet in length, the Amazon dolphin, or boto, is the largest of the four known species of river dolphin.
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Jaguar Pair
The jaguar was a prominent figure in ancient Native American cultures. In some traditions the Jaguar God of the Night was the formidable lord of the underworld. The name jaguar is derived from the Native American word yaguar, which means "he who kills with one leap."
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Full of Spirit
Farther north in the Great Bear Rainforest of Canada, a subspecies of black bear with a white coat - known as the "spirit bear" - emerges during the fall to feast on salmon. The Spirit Bear is one of the rarest bears on Earth.
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Part of the Wolf Pack
For gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains, finding enough food during the winter months becomes a daily battle. With a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour, a caribou can outpace a wolf, which tops out at 40 miles per hour, but the wolf will use sheer stamina to gain the advantage.
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Red and Ready
Just below the Arctic Circle, the red fox listens for meadow voles making tunnels under the snow. Red foxes are solitary hunters who feed on rodents, rabbits, birds, and other small game—but their diet can be as flexible as their home habitat. Foxes will eat fruit and vegetables, fish, frogs, and even worms. If living among humans, foxes will opportunistically dine on garbage and pet food.
Like a cat's, the fox's thick tail aids its balance, but it has other uses as well. A fox uses its tail (or "brush") as a warm cover in cold weather and as a signal flag to communicate with other foxes. Foxes also signal each other by making scent posts—urinating on trees or rocks to announce their presence.
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Great Gray Owl Keeps Watch
The great gray owl (Strix nebulosa) is the largest owl in North America, at up to 33 inches tall and having up to a five-foot wingspan. Great grays are very protective of their nests and may attack if approached.
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Eyes of the Wise
One of the largest owls, adult Great Gray Owls consume up to a third of their weight in rodents daily. Females in particular pack on reserves to sustain them through more competitive summer months.
