The Ireng River (or Maú River, generally used in Portuguese) forms part of
Guyana's western border with
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
It flows through the valleys of the
Pakaraima Mountains The Pacaraima or Pakaraima Mountains ( pt, Serra de Pacaraima, es, Sierra de Pacaraima) are a mountain range primarily in southwestern Guyana, and into northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela.
Geography
The range extends from west to east for over ...
for most of its length. It is the only major river in Guyana which flows from North to South, up to its confluence into the
Takutu River. It is one of the northernmost tributaries of the
Amazon river system.
The sources of the river are in the
Monte Roraima National Park
Mount Roraima National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional do Monte Roraima) is a national park in the state of Roraima, northern Brazil.
It includes the Brazilian section of Mount Roraima, and other mountains along the borders with Venezuela and Guyan ...
, created in 1989.
The larger part of the Ireng River basin forms the frontier between Brazil and Guyana. Ireng's main tributaries are the
Uailan and
Canã rivers on the Brazilian side and the Cacó, Dacã and Socobi rivers on the Guyanese side. All of these rivers merge with the upper and middle sections of the Ireng. Their courses are through breathtaking formations of sedimentary rocks formed by tectonic movements in ancient times. The Ireng River's waters are dark, bearing a striking resemblance to that of
Rio Negro near
Manaus, in Brazilian state of
Amazonas.
It is considered to be the most picturesque of Guyana's many rivers.
Orinduik Falls The Orinduik Falls lie on the Ireng River, a highland river that thunders over steps and terraces of red jasper on the border of Guyana and Brazil before merging with the Takutu River and into Brazil to join the Amazon River.
The falls are situated ...
and
Takagka Falls are located on the Ireng River.
Biodiversity in the Ireng
The Ireng River region is home to such reptile species as the
Antilles leaf-toed gecko (''Hemidactylus palaichthus'') and
rainbow whiptail (''Cnemidophorus lemniscatus''); amphibians such as the
sapo dorado (''Bufo guttatus'') and ''
Leptodactylus bolivianus''; birds including the
Muscovy duck
The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a large duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United St ...
(''Cairina moschata''),
black vulture
The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Cen ...
(''Coragyps atratus''),
crested caracara
The crested caracara (''Caracara plancus'') is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is found from the southern United States through Central and South America to Tierra del Fuego. It was formerly placed in the genus ''Polyborus''.
Descri ...
(''Caracara plancus''),
double-striped thick-knee
The double-striped thick-knee (''Burhinus bistriatus'') is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. The vernacular name refers to the prominent joints in the long greenish-grey legs, and ''bistriatus'' to the two stripes of th ...
(''Burhinus bistriatus'') and numerous others; mammals include the
South American tapir
The South American tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi ''tapi'ira''), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, the ''anta'' (Portuguese), and ''la sachavaca'' (literally "bushco ...
(''Tapirus terrestris''), jaguar (''Panthera onca'') and the
red-rumped agouti
The red-rumped agouti (''Dasyprocta leporina''), also known as the golden-rumped agouti, orange-rumped agouti or Brazilian agouti, is a species of agouti from the family Dasyproctidae.
Distribution
It is native to northeastern South America, wh ...
(''Dasyprocta leporina'').
References
{{commons category
Rivers of Guyana
Brazil–Guyana border
International rivers of South America
Rivers of Roraima
Border rivers