36 23 March 1973. Friday. Hato El Porvenir, Apure, Venezuela fresh tracks of jaguar & ocelot. Most ground has been dry, except at edge of water with caño (Agua Verde). The area of caño teemed w. (= canibe) life. Water boiled w. schools piranha and catfish; stream littered with dead fish & their remains, including some fish over 2' long. Hundreds of baba (alligator), some over 10' long. Hundreds of turtles in water & at edge; some about 400 mm across. Thousands chiguire of capybara tracks - we saw an small gps. in woods, saw large gps., with ¼ grown young, at water in evening. Some readily swam across the caño. Late in day, saw 100 gps. out into grassland for caño. Many probably over 50 kgs. They are now being shot for market (about 2500). They give dog - like barks in alarm, a single bark. Saw freshly dead Dasyprocta by pond; coati was eating at it. Hundreds of black and of yellow headed vultures, in trees & on ground near caño. We saw dozens of huge iguanas w. nest or brood, running, in trees, swimming (underwater for 2/3 of 20 yard crossing). Turtles, alligators, iguanas often on same bank. Occasionally a large Tupinambis lizard (called 'canepial,' said RB). Of abundant water birds; wood ibis, white stork, 100+ white ibis 20, jabiru, scarlet ibis 20, anhinga 20, cormorant 20, heron 100, tigrillo 2, great blue heron 10, night heron 200 (incl. juven.), white egret (in 3 birds), kingfisher 10 (2 birds), sparrowbill 20, vermilion flycatcher 20, shrike 20, and other (esp. many jays on road in sun 20; thick above, 1). A real zoological park of reptiles & water birds! / We walked along of caño Agua Verde & through adjacent 'monte' but found no tracks, drop- pings, or other cat signs. / The hunter said he searched w. dog from basecamp, yet located no cats. We thought Jaguar did not move far; much less than 10 km, he said. / We looked at various sites