Nature & Environment

Mysterious 'burning river' in Peru is so hot that it boils animals alive

By T.K. Randall
January 31, 2025 ·  0 comments

The 'burning river'. Image Credit: YouTube / TED / Andres Ruzo The idea of a river with water so hot that it can literally cook animals alive sounds like something out of a folk story, yet as it turns out, such a river really does exist and it is just as dangerous as it sounds.

Found deep in the Mayantuyacu region of Peru, the river - Shanay-timpishka - sees temperatures of up to 100 degrees Celsius - enough to boil the water and kill any animals that venture too close.

For years, stories of the river - the name of which translates to "boiled with the heat of the sun" - were met with considerable skepticism from the scientific community.

It wasn't until geoscientist and explorer Andres Ruzo ventured there himself back in 2011 that it was confirmed that the river was the real deal; it was a phenomenon found nowhere else on Earth.

"The hottest temperature I've measured is 210F (100C)," he said."To put that into everyday terms, the average coffee is roughly 130F (55C)."

"It's hard to physically imagine that much hot water. You stick your hand in, and you will see second or third degree burns in a matter of seconds."

Simply being near the river is enough to make your nose and lungs burn.

"I've seen a number of animals fall in, everything from birds to reptiles," he said. "Complex organisms like us, we don't do well at those high temperatures. We literally start to cook on the bone."

Despite there being no volcanoes anywhere nearby, the river's immense heat is thought to come from fault-fed hot-springs which heat up rainwater that collects in the surrounding rocks.

Suffice to say, this is one river you definitely wouldn't want to try swimming in.


Source: Mail Online | Comments (0)

Tags: Amazon, River