Mr. Marco Antonio Espino Sánchez, Peruvian Ministry of Production

Amazon River dolphins are a species threatened by extinction. They are internationally protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ( CITES ) and listed in Annex 1 (species threatened with extinction). In Peru Amazon River Dolphins are additionally protected by the national law  N° 26585 which prohibits extraction, processing and commercialization of the protected dolphin species and also requires special permits for maintaining them in captivity. The law obliges everyone to return stranded or accidentally caught dolphins to their habitat.


In July 2008 a juvenile river dolphin was caught by timber workers in the river Ucayali. It was then obtained by the zoo of Pucallpa. The zoo admits to not have permits to maintain the dolphin and that the conditions the animal is kept in are not adequate. It is therefore considered by the zoo to transport the animal to another one, the zoo of Huachipa, close to Peru % u2019s capital Lima % u2013 again such plans are made without the involvement of governmental entities and without having permits or even experience with the transport of cetaceans.


Instead of exposing the animal to life-threatening transports a rehabilitation plan must be set up immediately under transparent and open involvement of governmental entities, Peruvian conservation groups and international specialists such as the IUCN cetacean specialist group, in order to ensure that the dolphin can be returned soon and successfully into the wild as it is demanded by the Peruvian law.