From the agencies

Brazilian wildlife under pressure - in pictures

Creatures of the Amazon, one of the earth’s most biodiverse habitats, face an ever-growing threat as loggers and farms advance further and further into the rainforest. Photojournalist Ueslei Marcelino has been in Rhondonia and Amazonas states in Brazil has been following the destruction and the mission to save the region’s animals

Smoke billows from a fire in an area of the Amazon jungle as it is cleared by loggers and farmers near Humaita, Amazonas State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) fire brigade member attempts to control a fire in a tract of the Amazon jungle in Apui, Amazonas State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A tract of the Amazon jungle is seen burning near Ouro Preto, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A hawk flies over a tract of burnt Amazon jungle near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Cleio Junior, a fire brigade member of Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) holds a dead anteater while attempting to control hot points in a tract of the Amazon jungle near Apui, Amazonas State. “I feel enormous cruelty,” Junior said. “Human beings should have more conscience and put themselves in the place of animals.”

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A dead armadillo is seen at a burning tract of the Amazon jungle near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A tract of the Amazon jungle is seen burning near Ouro Preto, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Marcelo Andreani, 40, a veterinarian of the state environmental police, touches a tapir’s head after rescuing it from an illegal captivity, near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A road runs through a tract of burnt Amazon jungle near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A dead anteater lies on the road near the burning tract of the Amazon jungle, near Mirante do Norte, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Veterinarian Carine Hanna takes care of Xita, a Rondon’s marmoset, who was rescued by the state environmental police after giving birth, at the Clinidog veterinary clinic, in Porto Velho, Rondonia State. Vets at the clinic believe the mother and baby were run over by a car as they fled the fires raging across the Amazon. “She arrived stressed, screaming and smeared with blood,” said Carlos Henrique Tiburcio, the owner of the clinic. The team diagnosed Xita with a traumatic brain injury. She is wrapped and fed, and her condition slowly improves. But her baby doesn’t make it.

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A red macaw undergoes a necropsy procedure at the Clinidog veterinary clinic, after it was brought in weak and sick at the headquarters of the state environmental police in Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A tract of the Amazon jungle is seen near Ouro Preto, Rondonia State. In the dry season ranchers and land speculators set fires to clear deforested woodland for pasture. Blazes can rage out of control, fueled by the swirling wind and dry foliage. Wildlife flee from the smoke and flames.

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

An aerial view shows cattle on a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Marcelo Andreani, 40, a veterinarian of the state environmental police, examines a tapir after it was rescued from an illegal captivity at a farm and transferred to their headquarters, near Porto Velho, Rondonia State

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Veterinarian Carlos Henrique cares for a Caracara hawk with symptoms of food infection at the Clinidog veterinary clinic near Porto Velho, Rondonia State. The weak and the dying animals arrive at the clinic where a group of four volunteers work tirelessly to try and save them.

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

An anteater rests in a bathroom sink while receiving treatment at veterinarian of the state environmental police Marcelo Andreani’s house, near Porto Velho. The patient had been found hiding in a garage and, again, the vets think it might have been fleeing fires as anteaters rarely turn up in the city. The fracture required surgery. Under anaesthetic, a giant tongue rolled out of the anteater’s mouth, earning it the affectionate nickname Linguaruda, or Long-tongue. After surgery, one of the vets took Linguaruda home to keep a closer eye on her recovery.

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A recovered anteater is released in Amazon forest after receiving veterinary treatment by a veterinarian of the state environmental police Marcelo Andreani and the owner of the veterinary clinic Clinidog Carlos Henrique. The anteater arrived with a broken left paw after a clash with a fierce porcupine. In five days, Linguaruda was strong enough to return to the wild - the best outcome her rescuers could wish for.

Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters