Hello everybody
I asked some advise about river dolphins that were trapped in a segment of a
river in Bolivia. The rescue of the trapped dolphins locally called bufeos
went very well, it was a challenging experience were we learned a lot from the
whole process.
Finally we move them by road (very dusty and rough, but we did not have more
options) it took from 15 to 20 min to the area was blocked and then by boat (by
the river Rio Grande)
>From the original 9 (max 12) that we initially counted, finally we rescued 20
>bufeos!!!. The dolphins were trapped in an area of 1 km by 18m wide; it seems
>difficult to think such error on the counts. So I think it would be
>interesting to discuss the methods of evaluation.. we used the modified strip
>transect (counting around 8 times, while we were monitoring the general status
>of the area, or looking for possible mortality). If there is the possibility
>that generally we are underestimating river dolphin populations?.
Because of the logistic we release them in 3 areas of the same river (rio
Grande) 9 individuals 20 km from the blocked area; 7 individuals 10 km (after
some rapids), and 4 individuals were released in the blocked area (were the
Pailas river used to flow to the Rio Grande).. During this season (dry season)
these 3 areas are divided by rapids or shallow waters, but during rising and
high season the water level wont be a obstacle for the dolphins to reunite.
There were several females, 2 of them pregnant, 2 of them have newborns (both
were released close to their mothers) and we saw them days later swimming
together. One male dolphins surprised us because he did not have the left
pectoral fin.. probably this happened long time ago,this area was completely
healed (it seems that it was cut by a net), I dont know this is an frequent
situation. None of them showed signs of physical damage from the rescue, of
course they showed some signs of stress and some scratches from the capture but
we think they are fine.
Thank you for all your advise, comments, suggestions and interest.
Sincerely
Enzo Aliaga-RosselPhD CandidateUniversity of HawaiiEECB Program
Associate ResearcherInstituto de Ecologia- UMSALa Paz-Bolivia
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