"He wanted to lose the madness over the mountains, he said, and begin again" —Legends of the Fall

“The majority of macaws are now endangered in the wild and a few are extinct. The Spix's macaw is now probably extinct in the wild. The glaucous macaw is also probably extinct, with only two reliable records of sightings in the 20th century.” . The Las Piedras River remains one of the best strongholds on earth for these stunning birds. Several species including chestnut fronted, blue-headed, red and green, blue and yellow, and scarlet macaws are still abundant and free in these ancient forests 🦜

You know you’re in the Amazon when mom says you can’t leave the table till you finish your turtle

Good morning from the Amazon Rainforest 🦋🌴🌎🌴🦋

I know I worked out hard enough when I collapse face down and leave a sweat stamp of myself on the boards.

Out on patrol @junglekeepers rangers record species data, search for signs of illegal activity, and identify which areas of the forest are most vulnerable to deforestation. The wealth of knowledge that is being built by these rangers is massive, and is one of our greatest assets in the fight to protect this river from rapid degradation.

Camera test vs camera results! Not bad for one night! This beautiful ocelot was the only the my the camera got before heavy wind and rain drained the memory card and all the flashes. Time to charge and try again! Also — that’s a BIG ocelot!!! . Camera traps give us a unique window into the ecology of the forest. The Amazon is such a highly competitive ecosystem that every single animal here has developed powers of invisibility. Whether it’s camouflage or incredibly cryptic habits, or being just plain fast… The truth is it’s quite hard for humans to actually visually study the animals here. And that’s where camera traps come in. Not only do these high-quality images allow us to identify individual animals, they also allow us to identify details such as parasites, scars, injuries, or other unique phenotypic variations or behaviors that were not possible before. . @thomasstephane thank you for making these images possible💥

Tips for putting out camera traps in the Amazon: 1. Follow the tracks. Not every place on the trail is the same. And generally human trails are like animal highways. Tapir, ocelot, jag, peccary, deer… all kinds of animals use the trails. Areas with a lot of tracks on the ground are a safe bet for some good shots. * if you can find a place that a game trail and a human trail intersect 👌 2. Lower than you think. One mistake I see a lot of people making is putting the camera trap up too high. To me the most compelling videos if you’re trying to get interesting footage of animals, or behavior is to put it at I level. Whether you’re shooting jags or taper or something small like an egudy my rule is about 10 inches off the ground. 3. Wear bug spray. I usually don’t but when you have to concentrate for 30+ minutes in one spot, it’s a must. 4. Test the shot. I see a lot of people just throw camera traps and walk away. For me it’s a long process of finding a beautiful spot in the forest, and then getting down on my hands and knees and trying out the shot myself. And the answer to the question is yes I will share some of the ridiculous images of me crawling through the jungle soon lol . FINGERS CROSSED!! * Big thank you to @thomasstephane for these incredible DSLR rigs. I’ve always dreamed of trying out these monsters in the forest, and have always been frustrated with the low quality of consumer camera traps. The chance to get high-quality images of all the amazing wildlife we see is some thing that makes me insurmountably happy!

AWESOME NEWS!! As you may remember a while back on this Instagram page we did a fundraiser to gain support from my friend Pico to get him a prosthetic leg. Just now, while I am in the jungle, I received these photos from him. He is currently in lima making use of the funds that we raised through the gofundme campaign and soon will have a new prosthetic leg, and a whole new take on life. Sometimes people are awesome! And I want to thank so many of you who helped and donated to this cause. You have truly helped change someone’s life for the better! 🔥🔥🔥 . First image by @thomasstephane Thank you @gofundme 🙏🙏🙏

How many centuries of growth? A home to how many species? And for how much profit?? On a recent patrol with @junglekeepers we saw sobering amounts of logging. Everything that isn’t directly protected will be destroyed. Now, more than ever, we understand the urgency of this mission. . Thank you for your crucial commitment to saving this ancient forest @ageofunion

Today and everyday, Junglekeepers conserves threatened habitat in the vitally important Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon. The Las Piedras watershed is part of the Andes/Amazon hotspot—one of the most biodiverse and pristine areas on earth. This forest is home to tens of millions of trees, numerous indigenous communities, and untold numbers of animal heartbeats. In recent decades new roads, illegal logging, poaching, and gold mining have begun to seriously degrade the ancient forest that is the source of life in this region. Junglekeepers Rangers patrol and safeguard over 50,000 acres of this incredible landscape. Please consider donating to our cause by clicking the link in our bio. . Photos by @mohsinkazmitakespictures @thomasstephane

It’s beyond stunning what we’ve been seeing. Drones don’t just give us beautiful imagery but we also use them to scout — the birds-eye view sometimes shows us features we’d never otherwise see — new, hidden places to explore ✨ . Photo by @thomasstephane