Earlier this year, 154 river dolphins perished in Lake Tefé in the Brazilian Amazon, reminding conservationists of the urgency required to protect threatened freshwater cetaceans. The deaths occurred at the end of September 2023 during an intense drought. “For us, this is a crisis. In one month, more than 10% of the populations of the two dolphin species that inhabit Lake Tefé died,” says Daphne Willems, global leader of river dolphin research at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “We’ve never seen this before. It’s climate change. The water was significantly reduced and temperatures rose to 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit). Dolphins are not generally sensitive to temperatures; it doesn’t bother them much. But this was like cooking them.” More than 100 river dolphins, including endangered Amazon river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis), were found dead in Lake Tefé in the state of Amazonas. Image courtesy of André Zumak/Mamirauá Institute. The mass death occurred just a few weeks before International River Dolphin Day on Oct. 24. To commemorate this day, key actors for the species gathered at a meeting in Bogotá, Colombia. During the meeting, participants discussed the political context surrounding dolphins, success stories and a continental work session. The main objective of the meeting was to encourage nations to sign the Global Declaration for River Dolphins, promoted by the Colombian government, along with WWF, the Omacha Foundation, the World Bank and specialists from the South American River Dolphin Initiative (SARDI). The declaration commits 14 of the animals’ range countries (Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia,…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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