Brazil Untamed

Venture into the lush confines of the Brazilian Pantanal, host to an assortment of unusual creatures with similarly strange habits. Among these, you'll encounter the piraputanga fish that leaps out of the water to pluck fruit off low-hanging branches and the lowland tapir--the largest land mammal in South America--who can eat up to 100 lbs. of vegetation each day.

In the heart of Brazil lie the immense wetlands of the Pantanal--an area 10 times the size of the Florida Everglades. In the dry season, over 650 species of birds descend onto the shallow marshes to feast, breed, and raise their young, including the the regal jabiru, the colorful hyacinth macaw, and the noisy chacalaca.

At first glance, they look like pigs, but they're actually white-lipped peccaries from the Brazilian wetlands of the Pantanal, 10 times the size of the Everglades. Follow scientists as they track these mysterious mammals in their daily quest for food, while keeping a watchful eye for their main predator: jaguars.

A young jaguar embarks on the first solitary hunt of his adult life, deep in the Pantanal, a vast wetland 10 times larger than the Everglades. His target is a savage caiman, a relative of the crocodile, who will fight back for any opportunity to turn the tables on his inexperienced predator.

Two male ocelots, among the rarest wild cats of the Pantanal, are fighting it out over a freshly killed anaconda. In the distance, the loudest land animal in the Western Hemisphere, the howler monkey, fills the air with its primal cry. There's excitement at every turn in this protected South American wetland.

Brazil's rainforests are home to thousands of creatures, but few are as intelligent and graceful as the white-whiskered spider monkey. Watch as these Amazon ambassadors use their long tails like a fifth limb, swinging from branch to branch high above the forest floor. At the Cristalino Private National Heritage Reserve, these endangered primates have found a perfect refuge.

Wade into the wetland home of an unusual family of rodents. Capybaras have developed a number of adaptations that allow them to thrive in a dangerous environment, including webbed feet and synchronized births. But there's one trait that really stands out: they're as big as sheep. Because when you're surrounded by hungry predators, size matters.

It's the dry season in the Pantanal, and its wildly diverse grasslands are teeming with species, from magnificent rhea and giant anteaters to maned wolves and turkey vultures. Explore this unique world of armored mammals, regal scavengers, and flightless stay-at-home fathers, and meet the biologists working to protect this biodiverse refuge from the threat of habitat loss and human degradation.

Biologist Carolina Ribas sails up the waterways of the Pantanal in search of an endangered enigma: the giant otter. Despite their size, these remarkable fish-hunting mammals are adept at staying out of sight, for fear of predators. Join a remarkable odyssey into one of the world's most exotic wetlands.

Enter a land of extremes, where a stunning array of biodiversity must adapt to severe floods and brutal droughts.