Apiacás Ecological Reserve is a State

ecological reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in the State of Mato Grosso, in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

History

Many expeditions passed through the Apiacás territory, notably the "paranistas" in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ecological reserve was created by state law 6.464 of 22 June 1994 in the area named Arrecadação da Gleba Pontal. The objective was to protect and research the flora, fauna and natural beauty of the location. The state environmental foundation was responsible for administration.

Location

The reserve lies in the municipality of

Apiacás Apiacás is the northernmost municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Mato Grosso. It is the only city in a territorial "Salient (geography), edge" of Mato Grosso that "pierces" the boundary between Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazo ...

and has an area of about The

Teles Pires River The Teles Pires () is a long river in Brazil. The river flows through the state of Mato Grosso and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. At its mouth it joins Juruena River and together they form the Tapajó ...

bounds it to the east and the

Juruena River The Juruena River () is a long river in west-central Brazil, in the state of Mato Grosso. Course The Juruena originates in the Parecis plateau. Within Mato Grosso the river defines the eastern boundary of the Igarapés do Juruena State Park, ...

to the west. It extends to the confluence of these rivers in the north. The reserve is one of the least-studied areas of the

Amazon biome The Amazon biome () contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater river, blackwater and whitewa ...

. It is laced with an intricate network of streams in the basins of the Juruena and Teles Pires. The reserve would be in the proposed South Amazon Ecotones Ecological Corridor.

Fauna

The reserve is home to several endangered species including the

giant anteater The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an Insectivore, insectivorous mammal native to Central America, Central and South America. It is the largest of the four living species of anteaters, which are classified with sloths in the or ...

(Myrmecophaga tridactyla),

bush dog The bush dog (''Speothos venaticus'') is a canine found in Central and South America. In spite of its extensive range, it is very rare in most areas except in Suriname, Guyana and Peru; it was first described by Peter Wilhelm Lund from fossils ...

(Speothos venaticus) and

swallow-tailed kite The swallow-tailed kite (''Elanoides forficatus'') is a pernine raptor which breeds from the southeastern United States to eastern Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the ...

(Elanoides forficatus). A total of 193 bird species have been recorded, including the endangered Kawall's amazon (Amazona kawalli), golden parakeet (Guaruba guarouba),

orange-cheeked parrot The orange-cheeked parrot (''Pyrilia barrabandi''), also known as Barraband's parrot, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It was formerly placed in the genus '' Pionopsitta'', which is now monotypic. It is found in the Amazonian An ...

(Pyrilia barrabandi), vulturine parrot (Pyrilia vulturina) and

golden-crowned manakin The golden-crowned manakin (''Lepidothrix vilasboasi'') is a small species of perching bird in the manakin family (Pipridae). It is endemic to the south-central Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, and it is threatened by habitat loss. Discovery and re ...

(Lepidothrix vilasboasi).

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apiacas Biological Reserve Ecological reserves of Brazil Protected areas established in 1994 Protected areas of Mato Grosso 1994 establishments in Brazil