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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Fight
to Save Amazon's Animal Species
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
4/29/96
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE 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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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.
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