Fauna

Flora

FAUNA IN FORMOSA

Here we find the fauna typical of the semiarid environments in the Western part of El Chaco.

The mammals
Given that there are fluvial and aquatic types of environments we will find species representative of these places, along with those characteristic of more arid areas.

There are still some of the felines decimated by man in Formosa, such as the jaguar, the puma, the ocelot, the pampas cat and the feral cat, which used to be common dwellers in the forests and woods.

Armadillos such as the mulita, the tatú carreta or tatú-guazú, an endangered species, the mataco and the hairy can be seen in drier and more opened places.
The coati, the tapir, the stick rabbit, the collared and lipped peccaries, the crying muscovy duck, the common armadillo, the hairy armadillo, the brown mountain goat, the racoon, the grey fox, the zorrilla, the vizcacha, the nesting weasel, the howler monkey or caraya and diverse rodents, are abundant in the misty forests, where they all go running away from the desiccation as a result of the high temperatures at noon.

It is possible to find traces of the largest herbivore in the region on the riverbanks, the anta, tapir or great beast, side by side with those of the coipo or false otter, of the racoon, the aguará popé or South American racoon, the capybara, and even those of the caiman, amongst many others.

The maned wolf or aguará-guazú, a curious autochthonous fox, which has been unfairly persecuted for a long time turning it into one of Argentina's endangered fauna species nowadays, lives in the grasslands.

The termite hives or tacurúes on the savannahs with clusters of palm trees constitute the main source of nourishment of another peculiar vertebrate: the large anteater, flag-bear, or yurumí, also an endangered species.

The Gallery Forests in Bermejo are a haven for the rare night monkey or mirikiná, the only Argentinean primate of nocturnal habits. This small monkey of ringed tail and dense and silky fur calls the attention for its huge eyes, which resemble those of an owl.

Birds
Amongst the land birds we find the tinamou, though mainly runners such as the rhea, which can still be seen in the region. On the other hand there is a great diversity of birds associated to aquatic environments, amongst which the herons, the jabiru stork or big john, the largest of Argentina's storks, cormorants, swans, macaws, pink spoonbills, several duck species, toucans, southern lapwings, crows, caracaras, magpies, woodpeckers, green kingfishers, different pigeon species, so called picuies, pale-legged horneros, cattle egrets, earwigs, rock sp0arrows, owls and monjita birds stand out. There are abundant common parakeets and talker and royal parrots in the areas by the rivers, mainly at the Paraná River.

The mountains are refuge for other species such as Spix´s guan, blacklegged and red-legged seriema and parrots such as the talker and the Black-capped Conure . It is also possible to watch the rare so called moitú in here, a big bird of the family of the jugle guans who is hunted for its delicious meat.

All sorts of aquatic vertebrates densely populate the wetlands, reservoirs and lagoons. Many fish species are the foodstuff for the black and the nesting caimans, as well as for many other animals.

Reptiles
Here we can find different snake species, some dangerous ones due to their fatal venom, such as the false yarará or fer de lance, the yarará or cross' viper and the coral snake; the harmless vizcacha eating boa or ampalagua, which can grow up to three metres long, and a great diversity of serpents. The curiyú boa is another large aquatic reptile and it can grow up to four metres long. Besides, the nesting and red iguanas and land turtles are also common inhabitants of El Chaco.

Fishes
Fishes such as the wolf fish, eels and armored catfish , Callichthys callichthys, have developed adaptations that allow them living in here. The wolf fish for instance can breathe outside the water and can remain in tiny ponds; likewise, they can move crawling in search of more humid places aided by their fins; others, though just a few ones, such as the lungfish, have the unbelievable capacity of interring themselves in the mud and covering their bodies with a protective substance that wraps them in a sort of cocoon, in order to wait for the rains in a deep lethargy.

Insects
Most of the insects are not harmful save for the Triatoma infectans which are triatomine insects, that transmit the chagas disease, the tick that infects cattle with the sadness disease, the mosquitoes and the termites, whose tacurus or hives are more than one metre high.

FLORA IN FORMOSA

The Provinces of El Chaco and Formosa are part of a geographical unit, called El Chaco Park, with homogeneous flora and fauna; its is limited to the East with the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers; with the forest of Tucumán and Orán to the West; with the Pilcomayo River to the North and the Salado River to the South.

The existence of the Bermejo and Pilcomayo Rivers and their extensive flooding areas determine certain peculiarities. However, except for the Northwestern sector that is dry, the Province is humid enough as to contain exuberant vegetation.

The galleries of forests are predominant on the banks of the large rivers in Formosa; in the East we find the wetlands and flooding areas with their aquatic vegetation linking our country's two large forests: the mountain forests on the Yungas of Salta, Jujuy and Tucumán to the West, and the missionary forests to the East.

There are natural concentrations of white and red fern leaf acacias in this Province, along with guaiacums, locust trees, itínes and white sages. Extensive clusters of pindó and caranda palm trees and willows grow in the areas near rivers and wetlands.

There are still species proper of the galleries of forests nearby the Pilcomayo River and mainly in the homonymous National Park, such as the evergreen alder of the rivers, the drunken sage of white flowers, the ibirá pitá, the spear sage, the ñangapiré, the agarrapalos, and the timbó or oreja de negro. Lianas and epiphytes such as the aerial carnation, numerous orchids and a variety of reed called picanilla, grow in the forest areas.