Fight to Save Amazon's Animal Species
4/29/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Following is a Reuters feature article which details what they
call "a losing battle in the Amazon river basin to save animal
species, many of them rare, from the menace of man." We are
witnessing the biological and ecological fracturing of the fabric
of life in the Amazon, starting with large mammals. Keeping
Brazil's forest ecosystems intact is a major task facing OUR
generation. Habitat destruction, illegal logging, smuggling and
poaching are shown to be mechanisms for destruction of the
Amazon's animals.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
FEATURE-Brazilian team fights to save Amazon species
4/29/96
Copyright 1996 by Reuters
MANAUS, Brazil (Reuter) - Brazilian scientists are fighting a
losing battle in the Amazon river basin to save animal species,
many of them rare, from the menace of man.
Millions of animals fall victim every year in Brazil's vast rain
forest to destruction of their habitat or the traps and guns of
smugglers and poachers, studies show. "At times I get so
pessimistic because I'm only able to work with one small group of
animals when huge areas of the jungle are being destroyed,"
researcher Vera da Silva said.
Da Silva, who works with the National Institute of Amazonian
Research (INPA), has carried out studies for the past 10 years in
a 62,000 acre nature park on the outskirts of Manaus, the bustling
capital of Amazonian Brazil. "The greatest threat to the animals
is the destruction of their habitat. There are numerous
development projects destroying the forests," she said.
The task of the scientific team of which da Silva is a member is
enormous because of the numbers of species threatened with
extinction and the diversity of dangers they face. The team has
been forced to concentrate on only a few species, fundamentally
aquatic mammals such as the cow-fish and the ariranha, an otter
species exclusive to Brazil's rain forest. "We are studying their
reproductive habits and general state of health in order to find
ways to guarantee their survival," da Silva said.
The cow fish is a dolphin species found only in the Amazon river
basin that is related to the salt-water manatee. Weighing up to
880 pounds, it takes a long time to reach sexual maturity and
gives birth only every four to five years. Da Silva says it has
been hunted down since the Portuguese settlers first arrived in
1500 and its numbers have never recovered.
Marine biologist Francisco Colares said studies had shown that the
Brazilian otter, also prized for its skin, could recover if
sufficiently protected. The animal was placed under protection in
1969 "but today, the survival of the species is hanging by a
thread," he wrote in an INPA report.
In the institute's park, there are also numerous monkey species
and endangered alligators enjoying a degree of security that does
not extend to the dense rain forest beyond. Thousands of square
miles of jungle are destroyed each year by fires set by farmers,
endangering the animals.
The Social-Environmental Institute, a Sao Paulo-based ecology
group, said in its March newsletter that illegal logging bore much
of the blame for destruction of the wilds and the loss of animal
life throughout Brazil. "It is the fruit of a colonial mentality
of exploitation, which took root centuries ago in the logging
industry," the institute wrote. "Centuries have passed and no one
has tried to stop them."
Illicit trade in hides and live animals also accounts for
the disappearence of about 12 million Amazonian animals every
year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). To make
matters worse, only one out of every 10 animals smuggled out of
the Amazon to feed an international exotic pets market survives
to reach its final destination. The WWF says the illegal animals
trade ranks third behind international arms and drugs smuggling
in terms of its scope and turnover.
Brazil has repeatedly faced heated criticism from international
environmental groups for failing to protect the Amazon, the
world's largest expanse of rain forest and often referred to as
the "lungs of the Earth".
But many experts agree that Brasilia has recently improved its
environmental policies. As a sign of the government's sincerity,
they cite a proposal to establish a "green investment policy"
under which federal banks will be allowed to lend money only to
ventures that prove their ecological credentials.