11 Sep 2007 - Santa Cruz,
Bolivia – South America’s first-ever river
dolphin census through the Amazon and Orinoco
Rivers and its tributaries has come to an
end.
In the last 600km stretch along the Itenez
River in Bolivia, scientists — led by the
Faunagua Foundation (Bolivia) and Omacha
Foundation (Colombia), with support from
WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society and
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society —
counted 941 pink river dolphins.
During the 14-month, 3,145km-long expedition,
researchers not only spent long hours counting
dolphins, but checked on the state of the
rivers. River pollution, deforestation,
indiscriminate capture and incidental fishing
are some of the factors affecting the South
American river dolphins, the two pink river
dolphin species (Inia geoffrensis and Inia
boliviensis), also known as the boto, as
well as the grey river dolphin (Sotalia
fluviatilis).
The boto is classified as Vulnerable by
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
“We have successfully completed the first
South American dolphin river census and
we are satisfied with all the data collected
and what we witnessed,” said Saulo Usma,
WWF-Colombia’s Freshwater Coordinator.
In previous legs of the expedition the
team recorded: 485 in Bolvia (June 2007);
520 dolphins in the Colombian Amazon (March
2007); 818 in Peru (September 2006); 131
on Colombia’s Meta River (August 2006);
40 in Ecuador (July 2006); and 270 dolphins
in Venezuela (June 2006).
The survey expedition, which consists of
scientists from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador,
Bolivia and Venezuela, started in May 2006
in the Venezuelan city of Ciudad Bolivar.
“The census is just an initial phase towards
protecting pink and grey dolphins in the
Orinoco and Amazon Basins,” Usma added.
“Now we have to take the data we gathered
and translate it into an effective conservation
strategy to preserve the species and its
river habitat.”
Julio Mario Fernández, Communications
Director
WWF-Colombia
