Trilha Transcarioca

Fauna and Flora

Fauna

According to recent data from IPP, the Municipality serves as habitat for 107 species of mammals, 53 amphibians, 32 reptiles and 481 birds (an exceptionally large number, considering that all of Europe houses 680 species of birds).

Mammals

Among mammals, monkeys are frequent, of three types: mainly the Capuchin Monkey, native to the Atlantic Forest, and the White-tufted Marmoset, originally from the Northeast and introduced to Rio by human action. More recently, in 2015, the Howler Monkey and the Agouti were reintroduced to the Tijuca Forest by a team led by Professor Fernando Fernandez. Additionally, one can find in the forest Sloths, Opossums and Squirrels. Other mammals along the Transcarioca Trail, though rarer to spot, are the Crab-eating Fox, the Raccoon, the Armadillo and the Collared Anteater.

Howler Monkey / Photo Luisa Genes

Squirrel

Agouti

Squirrel Monkey

Capuchin Monkey

Marmoset

Porcupine

Coati

Sloth

Crab-eating Fox

Birds

Among birds, the easiest to observe are the various species of Hummingbirds, Hawks and falcons, Sparrows, Owls, the Rufous Hornero, the Great Kiskadee, the Woodpecker, the Green-headed Tanager and the Toucans, reintroduced by Adelmar Coimbra in the 1960s. Psittacids such as Parrots, Parakeets and Budgerigars can also be easily seen. In mangrove and lagoon areas, Herons and Cormorants are the most common.

Black-billed Toucan

Red-fronted Parakeet

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Green-headed Tanager

True Parrot

Roadside Hawk

Blue Dacnis

Great White Heron

Yellow-headed Caracara

Hummingbird

Pigeon Hawk

Monk Parakeet

Reptiles / Amphibians

Among reptiles, we find various types of lizards, but what scares most are certainly the snakes. However, this should not be seen as a big problem. Most snakes are not venomous and almost all of them will flee from humans once they feel their presence, only attacking when they feel threatened.

Boa Constrictor

Frog

Lizard

Vipers, in general, do not attack people gratuitously. On the contrary, they only bite when they feel cornered, provoked or inadvertently stepped on.

Therefore, the possibility of an attentive hiker being bitten by a venomous snake is almost nil. However small this possibility may be, it should be taken with the utmost seriousness.

Make sure your First Aid Guide has a chapter on snake bites and read it carefully before leaving home. Also, check which hospital nearest to the trail has specific serums for snake bites.

Check if your First Aid Guide has information about spider and insect bites, as well as allergic reactions to these bites. Do not leave home to hike in the wilderness without having extensively informed yourself on these matters.

Publications

The Brazilian publishing market lacks a complete publication that allows identifying all animals of Rio's forests through drawings or photographs. Some books, however, portray several of our animals:

  • Guia de Observação de Aves do Parque Nacional da Tijuca -- Ivandy Castro-Astor, Ie Claudia Bauer. Rio de Janeiro: Amigos do Parque Nacional da Tijuca, 2011.
  • Calendário Permanente da Floresta da Tijuca -- Dorée Camargo Corrêa. EGL Editora.
  • Parque Nacional da Tijuca -- Carlos Manes Bandeira. Ed. Makron Books.
  • Ornitologia Brasileira -- Helmut Sick. Ed. Nova Fronteira.

A bit of history...

"… In the forests there is a great diversity of wild animals with good meat such as deer and roe deer and wild boar… a certain animal called coati. There is also a certain animal that the natives call tapiira (tapir)… Finally, the toucan… having a beak almost as thick and long as the rest of the body"
André Thevet, 1556

First graphical representations of a toucan and a sloth, based on the reports of André Thévet, a French explorer friar who was in Brazil in the 16th century, being largely responsible for popularizing the expression "France Antarctique", referring to the French colonial experience in Guanabara Bay.

Learn about the history of Rio's fauna throughout the centuries after Brazil's discovery

Flora

The environmental protection areas through which the Transcarioca Trail passes house 833 plant species, 676 typical of the Atlantic Forest, 133 from lagoons and 24 from mangroves, constituting an ecological heritage of great diversity.

Native Forest

Among the specimens from the Atlantic Forest, especially relevant are the Quaresma with its purple flowers, the Aleluia, the Purple Ipê and the Yellow Ipê, the Silk Floss Tree, the Jequitibá, the Cecropia and the Brazilwood. Not to mention the Bromeliads, as varied as they are beautiful in the forests of the Transcarioca Trail.

Exotic Forest

Among the plants introduced by colonizers, the Australian Eucalyptus, the Mango Tree and the Jackfruit Tree brought from India, and Guinea Grass stand out; a pest that came from Africa aboard slave ships, where it served as bedding for slaves.

Publications

Many people enjoy walking while observing the vegetation and identifying each specimen along the way. Unfortunately, in Brazil, educational publications that allow laypeople to start this hobby through the combination of drawing and information are still very scarce.

In Rio de Janeiro, there are some books that help fill this gap. Listed below are some of them; the first two can be used as visual guides, as they feature photos or drawings of plants; the others are recommended for their wealth of information.

  • As Mais Belas Árvores da Mui Formosa Cidade de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro -- Cecília Beatriz da Veiga Soares. Editora Nova Fronteira.
  • Calendário Permanente da Floresta da Tijuca -- Dorée Camargo Corrêa. EGL Editora.
  • Parque Nacional da Tijuca -- José de Paula Machado. Editora Agir.
  • A Floresta da Tijuca e a Cidade do Rio de Janeiro -- Paulo Bastos Cezar e Rogério Ribeiro de Oliveira. Editora Nova Fronteira.

For those interested in the history of the Atlantic Forest as a whole, reading the excellent book by Warren Dean is essential: A Ferro e Fogo -- Warren Dean. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.

A bit of history

"Perhaps it is impossible to restore the Atlantic Forest…(however) Even what remains is indescribable in practical terms and immensely complex. A botanist can provide lists of its trees; in the most diverse strips of the Atlantic Forest, there are up to eight hundred species—a considerable number, compared to the few dozen found in the temperate forests of North America or Europe"
Warren Dean, American historian, specialized in Brazil.

Learn more about the history of the Atlantic Forest since the discovery of Brazil, clicking here.