Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/amazon-river-dolphins/
More than 400 hydroelectric dams are in operation, being built, or planned for the Amazon river’s headwaters and basin, The Guardian reports.
These tropical dams disrupt water flow and nutrient deposition, with negative consequences for aquatic animals, especially migratory species like dolphins. According to the World Wildlife Fund, as dams are constructed, the dynamite and noise can harm river dolphins. Once the dam is up, increased boat traffic can lead to more injuries and deaths from collisions.
Two freshwater species: the Amazon River Dolphin and the Tucuxi, can be found in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, and in the case of the Amazon River Dolphin, Bolivia and Venezuela, Reuters reports.
Both species have been listed as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its “Red List.”
A study conducted by researcher Vera da Silva and her colleagues from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil, showed that freshwater dolphins found in the Amazon River Basin were “dying off fast,” and could face extinction unless they were more vigorously protected.
At the time of the study, the IUCN had listed the freshwater dolphins’ status as “data deficient,” meaning not enough was known about their numbers in the wild to assess the degree of threat to the population, DownToEarth reports. But the study exposed enough evidence to convince the IUCN to change its classification of the animals.
Hydroelectric dams have already split up the Amazon River Dolphin into several groups on the Tocantins River, which could increase if more dams are constructed. This isolation makes the dolphin population more vulnerable to future environmental impacts, such as those brought by climate change, disease, or more dams.
Fragmentation and habitat degradation caused by dams have contributed to the decline of both the Ganges River Dolphin and the Yangtze River Dolphin, with the latter now likely to be functionally extinct, according to Mongabay.
Several countries have classified the the Amazon River Dolphin and the Tucuxi as threatened or endangered at the national level. Colombia, Bolivia and Venezuela have listed the Amazon River Dolphin as Vulnerable, while in Ecuador it is listed as Endangered, while Brazil’s 2014 assessment classified the Amazon River Dolphin as Endangered, and the Tucuxi as Near Threatened.
This may protect the species from being regularly slaughtered by fishermen for use as bait, but it will not stop the decline of the species if the Amazon’s tributaries are dammed up.
Only an immediate moratorium on future large dams in the Amazon basin will avert the disappearance of Amazonian freshwater dolphins.
Take a stand for the dolphins of the Amazon. Sign the petition and call for the government of Brazil to adopt and invest in clean energy alternatives to hydroelectricity, and energy efficiency measures, eliminating the need for future dams and protecting these animals from extinction.
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog
