When they cleared the land for agriculture, the settlers often caused the area's low-lying salt water to mix with surface rainwater, turning the land into useless desert. These harsh conditions made the Chaco the preferred place for Paraguayan dictators to send their most vocal critics into exile. Indeed, when the Mennonites first arrived in the Central Chaco, they found only about 500 native people living there. But the Paraguayan's Green Hell is a heaven for wildlife. Pink flamingos, finding snails and insects plentiful, feed in the Central Chaco's shallow salt lakes.
Many reptiles also live here, such as the alligator-like cayman, and rattlesnakes.