Read on Twitter
Today's been one of those days when working in conservation sucks. The Gobernación de Santa Cruz persuaded me to come with them to rescue some Bolivian river dolphins (Inia boliviensis)... and when we got to the site, we found they'd already died. Quick thread.
Because the weather has been SO dry and hot here over the past couple of months, they get stuck in little pools like this (above) and can't get out. The water gets hot, filthy, shallow, and they run out of food or get hurt and stressed.
You can just make out the dead individuals in the photo above, I won't post the up-close-&-personal photos because they're not very nice, to say the least. We were all pretty heartbroken when we saw what had happened, especially as one died within the last 2 or 3 days.
There are lots of factors which lead to this happening, it's not just the weather. Bolivian Big Ag (surprise!) has been canalizing rivers & generally messing about with water flow, & Interculturales (again) have been setting fire to forest in the area. We saw several fires today.
The most direct problem though is a bridge that community members built just upstream. They're doing what they can with what they have - it's not an easy place to live - but the bridge cuts off water flow almost completely & helps to trap the dolphins there.
