Written by Eduardo Franco Berton
Tuesday, 10 January 2012 14:53
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The natives of the Amazon have a legend telling that at night the dolphins are transformed into beautiful men who seduce young women and the women never return to the community. Just like in Brazil, many people in Bolivia believe that these pink animals have mysterious and inexplicable magical powers. This includes beliefs that are shared today by ethnic groups from different cultures and languages such as the Aaronic, Baur, Chiman, and Ese'Ejja Mosetén.
These and other legends surround the only Bolivian river dolphin, the Inia Boliviensis, an endemic species found only in Bolivia. Until recently, it was considered a subspecies of Inia geofrensis, which inhabits the rivers of the Brazilian Amazon.
The waterfalls of the Madeira River in Brazil, a few miles from where the rivers Beni and Mamore converge in the state of Beni, isolate the animal in Bolivian water, allowing their evolution as a species to have different characteristics from the dolphins in the Amazon River and the Orinoco porpoises.
Curious, friendly and playful, are some of the features of this kind cetacean, a creature who hides behind his peculiar rosy smile – makes sounds like the laughter of a child playing in a park – and has very similar behavior to humans, something that does not cease to amaze science. Recent scientific studies show that males woo their females by giving them gifts such as twigs, stones and heaps of clay that they carry by mouth and soon spread through the water, an amazing display of animal affection and romance.
Threats to their conservation
Currently, the state of conservation for dolphins in Bolivia is worrisome. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (UICN) declared the dolphins vulnerable, which places them on the extensive list of animals at risk in Bolivia.
One of his biggest threats to their well-being is mining, which pollutes the rivers the dolphin inhabit. Mercury contaminates their fragile and delicate bodies, causing death shortly afterwards. Another serious problem is the silting of rivers, a byproduct of deforestation, which affects their habitat.
The effects of climate change such as droughts are also a concern for the Inia due to the changes caused in riverbeds, occasionally trapping the dolphins there. In 2010, 20 dolphins were rescued in the Pailas River, in Santa Cruz state, after being stranded on the riverbed. Their lives were spared due to the help they received from the Santa Cruz government, rescue teams, dozens of biologists and volunteers.
The Inia Boliviensis has been struggling to deal with the huge pressure on the environment in which they live. It is an endemic species that continues to exist, but is in need of support from the same human race that has contributed to their disappearance.
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Eduardo Franco Berton is a legal advisor for Natura Bolívia, an organization supported by the Avina Foundation that conducts activities in the Amazon and a member of the Aliança Regional Amazônica (ARA). |
