Searching for the Aguara
Guazu or Maned Wolf, I ended up in The Sanctuary of Caraça in Catas Altas, Minas Gerais , Brazil. I first learned about this wolf from a
photograph I saw in Argentina 3 years earlier which started the chase. The Aguara Guazu is nocturnal and rare so it
is a big challenge to photograph. First
arranged to go to a national park in Brazil where it is found but was not
assured that I would even see and even less to photograph so opted to go the
Sanctuary. The painting below was done by a German artist George Grimm at the
request of the Brazilian Emperor Don Pedro II who visited here in 1881. The following
image is a close-up of the church and the area looks now very similar to the
painting.
Going to Caraça was in search
of the Aguara Guazu or Maned Wolf (
Chrysocyion brachyrus) whose
images are below. Due to darkness good
quality images were not obtained and the ones below, the first one was taken
with an iPhone6 and the next one with a Canon 5DIII. These animals are fed
every night in the church yard that has become a tourist attraction, a practice
beginning in the mid-1980s’. Honestly the fact that I was not able to get an
image of this majestic animal in a natural setting was not a disappointment,
just watching it was a great reward.
Aguara Guazu means large fox in the Guarani language and is also
called red wolf but is not closely related to either as well as dogs and
coyotes. It is the taller than those mentioned before. They prey on small
mammals, birds and fish but largely feed on fruits and vegetables. Avoids man,
it is usually solitary and are a threatened species.
The Sanctuary was a
surprise as to how in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Brazil, it came
to be erected beginning in 1774 by the efforts of Brother Lourenço who died in October
27, 1819, about 96 years old. He arrived at the site in the early 1770’s and
started construction of the original hermitage which was demolished in 1876 and
the new Gothic Style Sanctuary consecrated in 1883. The tower is about 160 feet
in height and the cross on top is said to contain slivers of wood taken from
the Christ crucifixion cross. The interior of the church is impressive and
below the altar (next image) is the body of St. Pius who was martyred in Roman
times; the body is covered with wax and was sent by Pope Pius VI. I wander what
caused these remains to end up here.
After Lourenço’s death, a congregation of Portuguese priests
arrived and established a boarding school resulting in additional expansions to
the complex. The School teachings resulted in various prominent students, two
of those eventually ended as presidents of Brazil. It ceased as a school in 1968 due to a fire.
The dining hall that survived the school fire brought back
ancient memories of my youth that I spent in a Catholic boarding school. The hall
was very similar in the lay-out and I recall marching into it and not allowed
to seat until prayers. Then the battle started
for the food on the table; if not fast enough in grabbing the grub, one may
have to be content just with bread and milk. At the end and far right of the
hall is a painting of Don Viçoso whose photo is below. That face is the stereotype of some of the priests
that maintained law and order in the school of my youth. The scowling look implied that you were going
to hell.
Overall the visit to Caraça brought me not only finding the
Aguara Guazu but youthful memories that fifty years later are not so somber,
the bars were broken.
The Sanctuary is located in a nature preserve with plenty of
opportunities for landscapes and wildlife pictures. The variety of flowers is amazing with lots
of orchids and birds. There large forests in the complex with trails with
excellent opportunities that reward with a variety of birds.
The birds below are the saffron finch, the southern house
finch, the chestnut bellied guan and the ferruginous pygmy owl followed by a Brazilian
chipmunk.
Time to move on and write the Pantanal blog.
1 comment:
It is always a challenge to get pictures of the nocturnal animals but SO rewarding when one does it even if it is not the best.
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