Dams drove an Asian dolphin extinct. They could do the same in the Amazon
The tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), a river dolphin endemic to the Amazon, has been declared endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning all the world’s freshwater dolphins are now at threat of extinction.
The species faces the same threats as another Amazonian cetacean, the pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), ranging from hydropower dams, to bycatch, to mercury poisoning.
Researchers warn that if these threats intensify, the Amazon’s dolphins could go the way of the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) in China, which is now considered extinct following a dam-building spree along the Yangtze.