My name is Enzo Aliaga Rossel I am a biologist from Bolivia.
There are 9 river dolphins (2 calves and one juvenile) trapped in a segment of
a river that was isolated by natural and antropogenic causes in Bolivia.
The evaluation of this situation indicates that there are several threats to
them if they keep in this area:
1) The area is frequented by poachers (illegal commercial fishermen) who
believe that dolphins are direct competition for fish and there is the
possibility that they will kill them.2) Due to the number of dolphins trapped,
food resources may be eventually exhausted, causing starvation.3) It just
started the low water season; consequently the water segment will drop and in
the worst scenario eventually dry totally out.
The main river close to the area (1 km aprox) is very contaminated with
agrochemicals, and the water flow is already reduced because its used for large
scale crop irrigation.
With the government consent, I am organizing the contingency plan, capture
protocol (handling, transport, measurements, etc). I received advise from
specialists on river dolphins which was very helpful.
We would like to move the animals into a protected area using helicopters.
However, I don't know if the helicopter´s noise could be harmful for the
animal. Do you have any advise on this topic or suggestions? I would greatly
appreciate your inputs.
Thanks in advance and best regards
Enzo Aliaga-RosselPhD Candidate University of HawaiiEECB Program
Associate ResearcherInstitute of Ecology-UMSABolivia
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