Rupununi

Savannah region of southern Guyana bordering Brazil; in Life on Air the Zoo Quest team goes there for animals found nowhere else in Guiana.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Life on Air	David Attenborough	subject	The Zoo Quest team goes there for animals found nowhere else in Guiana.

Life on Air — David Attenborough (2002)

Source: Original · Readwise highlight

That green blanket, however, is not entirely unbroken. Two hundred miles south, it is replaced by a patch of open grassy plains, the Rupununi savannahs.

• Role: subject
• In the book: Attenborough describes the open grasslands as an island in the rain forest, home to animals found nowhere else in Guiana, which is why the team goes there. He recounts the Melville cattle-ranching dynasty and the track to the coast, and the team collects giant anteater, anaconda and caiman.
• Why it matters: A whole section of the chapter is organised around this region, its history (the Melvilles) and its wildlife.