Capybaras
By the roadside.
Regys Macedo — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gabriel Sparrenberger — CC BY-SA 4.0 · André Barroso da Veiga — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Giácomo Luiz Mancini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · André Barroso da Veiga — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Giácomo Luiz Mancini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gabriela Delcin Pires — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Scheridon — CC BY-SA 3.0
Taim Ecological Station is a federal reserve in Rio Grande and Santa Vitória do Palmar, at Brazil's southern tip. It was created on 21 July 1986 over some 11,000 hectares on a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Lagoa Mirim, and is run by the Chico Mendes Institute. Taim protects vast wetlands formed as the sea advanced and retreated over the ages, with ocean and lagoon beaches, lakes, marshes, grasslands and dunes. Many animals live here, capybaras, coypus, turtles and broad-snouted caimans, along with great numbers of birds and varied plants from coral trees to orchids and water hyacinths. The station is a strict reserve, mostly open only to research, but the BR-471 highway runs through it lengthwise, so travellers see capybaras and birds along the roadside, and there is an environmental education centre. Drive slowly to protect crossing animals and stop only where allowed.
By the roadside.
In great numbers.
And marshes.
On the BR-471 between the Atlantic and Lagoa Mirim, far south of Rio Grande do Sul
Most of it is restricted to research; you see it from the road and the education centre.