Thousands of Caimans Thrive in Rio’s Urban Sprawl

In this October 14, 2013 photo, ecology professor Ricardo Freitas releases a broad-snouted caiman after examining it, at the Marapendi Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some 5,000 to 6,000 broad-snouted caimans live in fetid lagoon systems of western Rio de Janeiro, conservationists say, and there’s a chance that spectators and athletes at the 2016 Olympics could have an encounter with one, though experts hasten to add that the caimans, smaller and less aggressive than alligators or crocodiles, are not considered a threat to humans. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo) Continue reading »