The protected old-growth forest in the Amazon of southeastern Peru appears pristine: Ancient trees with massive trunks grow alongside young, slender ones, forming a canopy so thick it sometimes ...

A section of the Amazon rain forest that has been decimated by wild fires is seen, Aug. 25, 2019 in the Candeias do Jamari region near Porto Velho, Brazil. Victor Moriyama/Getty Images ...

Awapy Uru Eu Wau Wau grew up deep inside the Amazon rainforest. The 28-year-old belongs to a 250-strong tribe called the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau. The community – which remained in isolation from the ...

But in the Amazon, all that becomes harder with each year that passes. Read more from Bello, our columnist on Latin America: Ecuador’s president has little chance of implementing reforms (Jun 16th) ...

Most animals (85%) were raised in Jamanxim National Forest, the Amazon’s second-most deforested conservation unit, where the federal government is now facing strong political opposition.

But that's dangerous - there are snakes and alligators there. The rainy season in the Amazon should have started in October but it was still dry and hot until late November.

The Amazon abounds in spiders — current estimates are about 3,000 species — and their venoms tend to be extraordinarily complex cocktails of proteins, dangerous peptides and other toxins.