Peru’s Amazon: A Biological Hotspot Threatened by Oil

In a stand of primary rainforest in Peru’s Amazon region, giant trees with spreading buttress roots rise up to a canopy where their thick branches are laden with ferns, bromeliads, and other clinging vegetation. The air buzzes with the sound of insects, and parakeets screech to each other as they forage for fruit in the canopy. A lucky visitor may spot a group of squirrel monkeys leaping through the treetops high overhead, or a sloth moving slowly along a branch. Other highlights could include glimpsing a brilliantly colored masked trogon bird, or a startling a large green iguana basking on a riverbank. Read Article