The World - News from April 15, 1988

The Brazilian Pantanal, one of the largest wildlife reserves in the Americas, is threatened by the worst flood of the century, officials in Sao Paulo said. A spokesman for Brazil’s Department of Sanitation said 70% of the area’s 50,000 square miles is under water and animals are expected to die from disease. The level of the Paraguay River, which runs through the vast region, has risen 6 feet above flood level near Corumba, the capital of the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. According to Brazil’s Center for Agriculture Research, capybaras and deer are at the highest risk of contracting foot-and-mouth disease, rabies and parasites.