In its more than 18 years of activity, the Hórus Institute for Development and Conservation Environmental has dedicated itself to recording the presence of invasive exotic animals in the various Brazilian ecosystems.
According to the NGO, there are currently approximately 272 species considered exotic in Brazil, all of them not native to the region and able to reproduce quickly.
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Still according to the entity, these animals have the potential to spread without control, representing a threat to diversity. biological local.
The list of these animals includes some that are already known by the population, such as the brown anole lizard, the red crayfish and the crab, among hundreds of other species.
These animals arrived in the country in different ways, both accidentally, coming through ships, or on purpose, to be used as food or as pets, for example.
The risks that non-native species can cause
Due to the fact that they come from natural habitats outside Brazil, the presence of these exotic animals can compromise the environmental balance, seriously affecting some Brazilian ecosystems.
Some of these invasive species act as predators, while others damage native vegetation and occupy territories that should be reserved for animals native to the region.
In addition, there is also a great concern about the transmission of diseases, which can affect the local fauna, making it more vulnerable to parasitic infections.
Finally, there is still a risk that these diseases will be transmitted to humans through consumption. of these exotic animals or the transmission of viruses, bacteria and fungi through vectors, such as mosquitoes.
Even the Aedes aegypti, the famous “dengue mosquito”, ended up in Brazil accidentally. The species is native to Africa and no one knows for sure how it arrived in Tupiniquim lands.
As a way of trying to stop this “attack” on Brazilian biomes, in 2018 the Ministry of the Environment instituted the “National Strategy for Invasive Exotic Species”.
The purpose of this initiative is to develop better tracking and monitoring of invasive species and thus devise specific plans to deal with these inactive animals and preserve the areas affected.
The success of this endeavor means the protection of animals and plants native to Brazil, in its most diverse ecosystems.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.
