Brazil: A Natural History

The largest rainforest in the world still holds many secrets. The harpy eagle is the world’s biggest bird of prey, capable of hunting and killing monkeys. But the most important creatures in the forest are leaf-cutter ants – they can harvest the green wealth of the forest, as they have found a way of removing the protective poisons from the leaves. The forests, for miles around the rivers, become flooded every year. Piraracu, a strange primordial monster fish, hunts amongst the trees. The water is so dangerous that one fish uniquely lays its eggs on the leaves above the flooded forest. As the water retreats smaller fish play out life and death scenes in the shrinking lakes and lagoons. They have even found ways of escaping tiny puddles and returning to the river. The Amazon still has the power to surprise.