By IANS/EFE,
Lima : Some 20 pink dolphins were apparently poisoned and killed by poachers in Bazagan Lagoon in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the Lima press said.
According to the daily La Republica, these pink dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) are believed to have been poisoned by fishermen to keep them from damaging their fishing nets.
The bodies of the cetaceans, between adults and young specimens 2 to 3 meters long, were found floating in Bazagan Lagoon, Requena province, in the northeastern region of Loreto, the Lima daily said.
La Republica said Saturday that the pink dolphins of the Amazon must have eaten fish poisoned – according to preliminary investigations – with phosphorus or pesticides thrown in the water in order to eliminate them.
Any attempt to kill these animals is stipulated as an environmental crime in the Peruvian Criminal Code.
The pink dolphin is indigenous to the Amazon River and its tributaries in Guayana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.