Manaus Memories (continued)

Manaus Memories

One of the things I always find fascinating about Manaus is its history. From a little village on the edge of the jungle, it became a famous port of call for ocean voyagers, two thousand miles up a river, all because for a brief time it was the rubber capital of the world.

When you look at the structures built during this time, the Opera House, the Customs House, the Central Market, the cathedral, as well as the mansions and places of business, you see a European influence, as opposed to the architecture of any individual country.

The rubber barons of Amazonas wanted to show that they were the equals, if not the betters, of the Europeans from whom they descended.

The Opera House is a must see when you go to Manaus. They have tours in English, Portuguese, Spanish and German, and probably some other languages. When you look at the construction, at the woods, marbles and stones used to create this beauty in the jungle, you have to wonder at the skill of the craftsmen who constructed this wonder in the middle of a jungle surrounded by disease and hostile Indians. The cost involved, especially in today's dollars, is astronomical. Yet, the barons wanted to show they could have an opera house equal to any in Europe and they copied the opera house of Milan.

For their market they used the Central Market of Paris as an inspiration and expanded on the idea, using imported steel from France to give the French feeling to the structure.

The Customs House (Alfangada in Portuguese) is a squat stone building that looks like something that would be comfortable on a London waterfront.

What I find amazing is not only that these building have survived over a hundred years in a tropical climate and during reverses in the economic status of Manaus, but that the people take such pride in them that all have been repeatedly renovated to maintain their Old World appeal in a New World jungle.

More in the next edition.

Manaus Memories

Manaus Memories

I first went to Amazonas with a fellow Franciscan friar of the Third Order Regular in 1977. We went to spend three months and see if the missionary life was for us. After our three months upriver in the interior in the town of Nova Aripuana, he opted to stay in the States. Shortly after my ordination I arrived in Manaus in 1980 to begin my missionary career in Amazonas.

Twenty-eight years ago Manaus was growing, as it has continued to do. People abandoned the interior in hopes of better employment and a better life. Therefore expansion and construction is an everyday way of life in Manaus.

I experienced Manaus by going on shopping expeditions to the center of the city. At that time the Order had friars in three towns on the Rio Madeira. Nova Olinda do Norte, Borba and Nova Aripuana were the three major cities in the Prelacy of Borba.

Although small planes had begun flying to Borba, all other traffic was by river boat. Generally boats came in from the interior on Sunday or Monday and went up river on Wednesday or Thursday.

Each of the friaries had a locked blue bag they would send down river with their mail, along with their food and necessity orders. A friar in Manaus was responsible for retrieving the bags and then doing the necessary shopping.

Until I went to language school in Brazilia, I was the assistant on this job for four months.

Driving in Manaus is always an adventure. Back then the most common vehicle was the Volkswagen Bug. It was small, got a lot of miles to gallon and was easy to repair. Second was the Volkswagen Combi or minibus. (Now little Fiats dominate the roads.)

First we would go to three different supermarkets, depending on what items were needed. Then we would go to the Central Market, even larger now than it was back then, and finish up the orders.

We would return to the monastery and put what we could in the locked bags and then place everything else in boxes we taped shut.

Boats generally left at dusk, between 5PM and 6PM. We would get to the harbor around four. Generally you parked anywhere from a quarter to a mile away, depending on the day and how many boats were pulling out. If we had a lot of items we would pay a stevedore (carrigadore) to carry the items to the boat.

We used a different boat for each town, because very few boats went to all three. The captains and crews knew the friars, as we knew them, and they always made certain that everything was delivered safely.

The port/harbor was always exciting, as you wove your way through trucks loaded with merchandise to be loaded on boats to head into the interior, stevedores carrying the merchandise from truck to boat, passengers either going to the boats or leaving the boats and then the folks like us with small loads we need to entrust to a captain's care.

Now a days the port is better organized with more controls, not as wild as in the old days.

Even now though it is exciting to watch the boats load as they prepare to make their way up a variety of rivers and streams to take the necessities that keep the jungle state of Amazonas running.

More in the next edition.

Lowland Paca

Lowland Paca

The paca, also known as the Agouti paca or the lowland paca, is a large nocturnal rodent that lives in the tropical rain forest. Having a stout body covered with dark hair and four rows of white spots on each side of its body, this animal can weigh as much as 40 pounds and grow to a length of 32.5 inches. The paca also has large cheeks that help the animal make noises.

Pacas are frequently preyed on by other Amazon animals such jaguars. To avoid predators the paca uses its excellent swimming ability to flee danger. By foraging for food at night the paca attempts to make itself difficult for predators to stalk.

The pace lives in forested habitats near water, preferably smaller rivers, and digs simple burrows about six and a half feet below the surface, usually with more than one exit.

The paca is an incredible climber and searches for fruit in the trees. Its diet includes leaves, stems, roots, seeds, and fruit, especially avocados, mangos and zapotes.
This solitary-living rodents only gets with others of its kind during the mating season.

The Lowland Paca is considered an agricultural pest by farmers because it enjoys eating yams, cassava, sugar cane, corn and other food crops.

Because its meat has excellent flavor (I find it similar to fresh pork), the paca is hunted and its meat is sold at high prices.

Plentiful in protected habitats, hence not in danger of extinction, the overall paca population has decreased due to hunting and habitat destruction.

The paca is easily bred and raised on farms, although the taste of farm raised paca is thought to be highly inferior to flesh of a wild paca.

More in the next edition.

Ocelot

Ocelot

The Ocelot, known also as the Painted Leopard, McKenney's Wildcat, Jaguatirica in Brazil or Manigordo in Costa Rica, is a wild cat distributed over South America, Central America and Mexico. There are reports of sightings of Ocelots as far north as Texas and in Trinidad in the Caribbean. Of the ten Ocelot subspecies, one is found in the Brazilian rain forest.

The Ocelot's appearance is similar to that of the domestic cat. The Ocelot's fur resembles that of a Clouded Leopard or Jaguar. Once the pelt of the Ocelot was regarded as highly valuable. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of Ocelots being killed for their fur. This feline was classified a "vulnerable" endangered species from the 1980s until 1996, but is now generally considered "least concern" by the 2006 IUCN Red List.

The Ocelot has an average length of 3 feet, with a tail that is a 1 1/2 feet in length. An average weight for the Ocelot is between 25–35 pounds. This makes the Ocelot the largest of the generally dainty Leopardus wild cat genus.

While similar in appearance to the Oncilla and the Margay, which inhabit the same region, the Ocelot is larger.

The Ocelot has a tawny to reddish brown coat marked with black spots and rosettes. The fur is short, and lighter beneath. There is a single white spot on the back of each of its ears, and there are two black lines on either side of its face. It has a black-banded tail.

Mostly nocturnal and very territorial, the Ocelot will fight fiercely, sometimes to the death, in territorial disputes.

The Ocelot, like most felines, is solitary, usually meeting only to mate. However, during the day when resting in trees or other dense foliage, the Ocelot occasionally shares its spot with another Ocelot of the same sex.

The Ocelot, is well equipped for a lifestyle of life in the jungle and will sometimes take to the trees, but unlike the Margay and Oncilla, the Ocelot mainly stays on the ground.

Most Ocelots hunt over a range of 7 square miles, taking mostly small South American deer (which are far small than their North American cousins), rabbits and various rodents, reptiles and amphibians, such as lizards, frogs, and turtles, crabs, birds and fish.

More in the next edition.

Oncilla

Oncilla

The Oncilla also known as the Little Spotted Cat, Tigrillo, Cunaguaro or Tiger Cat, is a close relative of the Ocelot and the Margay. The oncilla’s habitat is the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. Two of the four subspecies live in Brazil.

The Oncilla is a nocturnal animal, which hunts for rodents and birds. Because the Oncilla hunts in the canopy above the range of the margay and ocelot, the three species of cat can reside in the same area without competing for each others food.

The Oncilla grows between 18 to 24 inches long, with a tail anywhere from 10 to 20 inches long. While the Oncilla is somewhat larger than the average Domestic Cat, it is slightly lighter, weighing between 5 and 10 pounds.

Their coat is light brown to rich ochre or grey, with very dark brown or black spots and blotches. The under parts of the Oncilla are lighter with solitary black spots. Their limbs are spotted on the outside, and the long tail has spots at the root, developing into black rings. The Oncilla is a daintily built cat, with a narrow head and a white line above the eyes. The large ears are rounded and black on the outside with a conspicuous white central spot.

The Oncilla is consider to be an endangered species.

More in the next edition.

Jaguarundi

Jaguarundi

The jaguarundi is a medium-sized Mexican, Central and South American wild cat. Two of the eight subspecies are found in Brazil.

The jaguarundi has an average length 30 inches, a 20 inch tail and weighs about 13.2 pounds. Due to short legs and ears that are short and rounded the jaguarundi is sometimes said to have the appearance of an otter.

The coat of the jaguarundi is unspotted, uniform in color, and varying from blackish to brownish gray or from foxy red to chestnut.

The two color phases were once thought to represent two distinct species; the gray one called jaguarundi, and the red one called eyra. However, studies have proven these are the same species and both color phases may be found in the same litter. Its coat has no markings except for spots at birth.

The jaguarundi prefers a habitat of lowland brush areas close to a source of running water. As in the case of the Brazilian subspecies, the jaguarundi occasionally inhabits dense tropical areas as well. This cat is comfortable in trees, but prefers to hunt on the ground. It preys upon fish, small mammals, reptiles and birds.

This cat is not particularly sought after for its fur, but it is suffering decline due to loss of habitat

More in the next edition.

Margay

Margay

The Margay is a spotted cat native to Central and South America. Two subspecies are found in the Amazonian rain forest.

The Margay is a solitary and nocturnal animal that prefers remote sections of the rainforest.

The Margay can weigh about 6.6–20 pounds, with a body length of 18 to 32 inches and a tail length of 13 to 20 inches.

Similar to the larger Ocelot, the head of the Margay is a bit shorter, the tail and legs are longer, and the spotted pattern on the tail is different. Most notably, the Margay is a much more skillful climber than its relative, and it is sometimes called the Tree Ocelot because of this skill.

The Margay may spend its entire life in the trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. The Margay is one of only two cat species with the ankle flexibility necessary to climb head-first down trees (the other being the Clouded Leopard). Its ankles can turn up to 180 degrees, it can grasp branches equally well with its fore and hind paws, and it is able to jump considerable distances. The Margay has been observed to hang from branches with only one foot.

Once believed to be vulnerable to extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature now lists the Margay as "Near Threatened".

More in the next edition.

Giant Anteater

Giant Anteater

The Giant Anteater is widespread, inhabiting Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. Currently the Giant Anteater is listed as vulnerable but not endangered.

Giant Anteaters are preyed upon by cougars, jaguars and alligators. Humans also prey upon the Giant Anteater when hunting,

The Giant Anteater has a dense, thick, bristled coat of fur which is longer towards their rump. Brown in color, Giant Anteaters have black and white stripes on their back or shoulder areas.
They have 5 short claws on their hind feet, while on their forefeet they also have 2 short claws and 3 claws that are long and sharp.

The Giant Anteater weighs in between 40 to 90 pounds on average. Their length is usually between 3 1/2 to 4 feet. The snout can be 1 1/2 feet in length. The Giant Anteater has a large tail measuring an 2 to 3 feet in length.

The Giant Anteater is a solitary animal. Only a mother and her young remain together until the young is independent. Having little need for communication they have a few vocal calls, consisting of snarls, grunts or hisses.

Breeding can occur at any time of the year. Females give birth standing up, and the new born anteater will immediately climb onto the mother's back. The young anteater remains with their mother for around 2 years. The young anteater will suckle from the mother for 2 to 6 months. For the first six to nine months a mother carries her young on her back.

As the name suggests, the Giant Anteater is the largest living species of anteater found in the world.

More in the next edition.

Remembering Frei Jose Glancy TOR

We received word today of the death of Father Joseph Glancy TOR. He was 78 and would have been a priest 50 years this coming May. Joe was one of my companions on my first adventure in Amazing Amazonas in 1977. Along with Father Robert Glavey TOR and Father James Angert TOR, we boardsed a river boat, saw the encounter of the waters - the first time was great but it is still exciting everytime I see it, then went down the Amazon until it was time to turned right up the Rio Madeira. We went up river until the the town of Nova Olinda do Norte, where Frei Jose was the pastor. During that 18 hour voyage Jose and Robert shared stories over beer and rice and beans.
From Nova Olinda the remaining three of us boarded a smaller boat and went on to Borba and finally Nova Aripuna where I stayed for the summer.
Three years later, as an ordained priest, I returned to Nova Olinda and worked with Frei Jose.
He and I both departed Nova Olinda two years later, me to marry, he to return to the States and take up a series of new ministries, first as a hospital chaplain, then as the pastor of small parishes in West Virginia, New Jersey, South Dakota and finally as an assistant pastor in Baltimore until he retired to the TOR mother house in Loretto, PA.
During that time Joe and I were in off and on contact. A good, kind hearted man who inspired me in my youth by his generous spirit and his great sense of humor.
He will be missed but we pray that he may rest in peace.

Brazilian Tapir (Anta)

Brazilian Tapir

Anta

The Brazilian Tapir (or Anta in Portuguese), is also referred the Lowland Tapir. The Brazilian Tapir is one of four species in the tapir family The other three are the Mountain Tapir, which roam the Andes Mountains of northern South America, the Malayan Tapir, the only tapir of Asia found in Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the Baird's Tapir, which is native to Mexico and Central America.. The Brazilian Tapir is the largest wild land animal in South America.

The Brazilian Tapir is dark brown in color, with a low, erect mane running from the crown down the back of the neck. The Brazilian Tapir's body length is usually between 6 to 8 ft, with a tail of 2 to 4 inches. The Brazilian Tapir has an average weight of 595 lbs. Their height is between 2.5 to 3.5 feet at the shoulder.

The Brazilian Tapir is found near water in the Amazon Rain Forest and River Basin in South America, east of the Andes. These mammals have a range that covers parts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Guianas in the north, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, in the south, and Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador in the West.

The Brazilian Tapir is an excellent swimmer and diver, as well as being able to move quickly on land, even over rugged, mountainous terrain.

The Brazilian Tapir has a life span of approximately 25 to 30 years. In the wild, their principal natural predators are alligators and large cats such as the jaguar and cougar, who often attack the tapir at night when they leave the water and sleep on the riverbank.

Tapirs are known to run and hide in the water when scared.

The Brazilian Tapir is a herbivore. Using their mobile snout, they feed on leaves, buds, shoots, and small branches that they tear from trees, fruit, grasses, and aquatic plants.

The Brazilian Tapir's dwindling numbers are due to a combination of poaching for meat and hide, as well as habitat destruction.

The Brazilian tapir is an endangered animal species, however it has a lower risk of extinction

than the other three tapir species.

More in the next edition.

Capybara

Capybara

The Capybara is the largest living rodent in the world. The Capybara is related to agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs. The name for the Capybara comes from Kapiÿva in the Guarani language which means "master of the grasses". The Capybara's scientific name, hydrochaeris, is Greek for "water hog".

These large rodents have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Adult capybaras may grow to 4.3 ft, and weigh up to 140 lb.

Their back legs are slightly longer than their front legs, their feet are slightly webbed, they have no tail and their muzzles are blunt with eyes, nostrils, and ears on top of their head. This is an animal where the females are slightly heavier than males.

Capybaras are social animals, normally found in groups, between 10 and 30 although there have been sightings of larger groups of up to 100.

Capybara herds are controlled by a dominant male who has a prominent scent gland on his nose that he uses to smearing his scent on the grasses in his territory.)

Capybaras communicate through a combination of scent and sound, being very vocal animals with purrs and alarm barks, whistles and clicks, squeals and grunts.

The giant rodent is an excellent swimmer, with the ability to survive completely underwater for up to five minutes. They use ability to evade predators. In times of necessity and extreme danger, a Capybara can sleep underwater, keeping its nose just at the waterline.

As temperatures increase, Capybaras wallow in water to keep cool and then graze in late afternoons and early evenings. Not needing much sleep, Capybaras usually doze off and on throughout the day and graze into and through the night.

The Capybara is not considered a threatened species.

More in the next edition

Wooly Monkey

Wooly Monkey

The Wooly Monkey gets its name from its thick, coarse fur. The Wooly Monkey is a medium-sized monkey, having a prehensile tail, which it uses as a fifth limb to grip branches.

There are four major species of Wooly Monkey. Three of the species are found throughout most of the Amazon basin. Only the Colombian Wooly Monkey stays north in Colombia and Venezuela.

The three species found in the Amazon basin are the Brown Wooly Monkey , the Gray Wooly Monkey and the Silvery Wooly Monkey.

All of the species of Wooly Monkey live in small troops of 4 to 70 individuals. Depending on the time of year and availability of food, the Wooly Monkeys often mix with related monkeys such as capuchins, howlers, or spider monkeys.

They eat mostly fruit, supplemented with leaves, seeds, and insects. The Wooly Monkey is a slow moving forager who stays to the trees most of the time.
They have been observed walking upright on the ground.

Although their habitat is threatened in some areas, they are not currently on the endanger species list.

More in the next edition.

Monk Saki Monkey

Monk Saki Monkey

The odd-looking Monk Saki is one of about half a dozen similar large monkeys in the Amazon. The Monk Saki's peculiar hair-do accounts for its common name. They quietly roam around the middle canopy in small groups, looking for fruits, seeds and leaves.

Monk saki monkeys are closely related to the bearded sakis.

The Sakis' range includes northern and central South America, extending from the south of Colombia over Peru in northern Bolivia and into the central part of Brazil.

The Monk Saki is a smaller monkey with a long, bushy tail. It has furry, rough skin that can be black, grey or reddish-brown depending upon the species.

The faces of some species are naked, but their head is hooded with fur, hence the name of Monk, because of the hoods used by monks.

Adapted to life in the trees, the Monk Saki has strong hind legs allowing it to make far jumps. Sakis reach a length of between 11 and 20 inches, with a tail just as long. They can weigh up to 4 i/2 pounds.

Sakis live in the trees of the rain forests and only occasionally go onto the land. They mostly move on all fours, sometimes running in an upright position on the hind legs over the branches, and sometimes jumping long distances. For sleeping they roll themselves cat-like in the branches.

Generally they are very shy, cautious animals.

Sakis live in family federations, consisting of the parents and their offspring. Mated pairs usually form lifelong pair bonds.

Sakis are territorial animals, defending their territory in relation to other families. Sakis are omnivores. They eat fruits, leaves, flowers, insects, and small vertebrates, such as rodents and bats.

So experts believe that certain saki species were hunted almost to extinction in the 1990s, but that with conservation efforts in the Amazon basin that several of the Saki species are returning in numbers.

More in the next edition.

Pygmy Marmoset

Pygmy Marmoset

The Pygmy Marmoset, the tiniest monkey, is a native to the rain forest canopies of western Brazil, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and eastern Peru.

One of the smallest primates, the Pygmy Marmoset has a body length ranging from 5 to 6 inches excluding the tail. Males weigh around 4.9 oz, and females only 4.2 oz.

Sporting a tawny coat, the Pygmy Marmoset has a ringed tail that can be as long as its body. Their claws are specially adapted for climbing trees, a trait unique to the species.

They feed on fruit, leaves, insects, and sometimes even small reptiles. Their small weight allows them to reach the very highest leaves of a tree, and to exploit the otherwise little- used food sources there. However, their principal food source comes from tapping trees for sap. Two-thirds of their day can be spent gouging tree bark to reach the gummy sap. To aid in reaching the sap, the Pygmy Marmoset has specialized incisors for gouging holes in bark.

Due to its small size, and its swift movements, it is very hard to observe in the wild.

Because of the ruff of fur around their heads, the Pygmy Marmoset received the Spanish name of Leoncito, little lion.

In captivity, the Pygmy Marmoset can live up to 11 years.

The Pygmy Marmoset is not on the endangered species list.

More in the next edition.

Capuchin Monkey

Capuchin Monkey

Capuchin Monkeys received their name from a group of Franciscan friars known as the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. These friars wear brown robes with large hoods covering their heads. Early Spanish and Portuguese explorers reaching the Americas in the 15th century found these small monkeys who resembled the Capuchin friars of their homelands and named the monkeys Capuchins. The Capuchin monkey's body, arms, legs and tail are all darkly (black or brown) colored, while their face, throat and chest are white colored, and their heads have a black cap. They reach a length 12 - 22 inches, with tails that are just as long as the body. They can weigh up to 13 lb.

The capuchin monkey has a prehensile tail, unlike the squirrel monkey.

Feeding on fruits, seeds and insects, the capuchin monkeys roam throughout the forest in groups of 6 to 40 members. These groups consist of related females and their offspring, as well as several males. Normally groups are dominated by a single male, with primary rights to mate with the females of the group. However the White-headed Capuchin groups, a sub-species, are led by both an alpha male and an alpha female.

Capuchin monkeys can be found in Honduras and Brazil, eastern Peru, and Paraguay.
Capuchin monkeys are considered the most intelligent New World monkeys and because of this are often used in laboratories.

The Tufted Capuchin,a sub-species, is especially noted for its long-term tool usage, one of the few examples of primate tool use other than by apes.

These monkeys seem to be doing well and are not on the endangered species list.

More in the next edition.

The Common Squirrel Monkey

The Common Squirrel Monkey

Of all of the monkeys of Amazonas, the Common Squirrel Monkey is the most common, widespread throughout the lowland rain forest. The squirrel monkey is identified by its yellow fore-limbs and white around the eyes. These small monkeys roam around the tree tops in large troops of 20 to 100, at times making an excess of chatter. One usually hears them long before seeing them.

The squirrel monkey feeds on small insects and fruits, and are partial to tearing up flowers to get at the nectar. The preference of the squirrel monkeys is to be near the edge of a river or lake, where there is lots of vegetation with vines and lianas, making it easy for visitors to the Amazon to have an opportunity to see this species in the wild.

The Common Squirrel Monkey can be found in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Paraguay and Venezuela. A small population was introduced to Southern Florida.

Preferring to live in the middle canopy, the common squirrel monkey will occasionally come to the ground or go up into the high canopy.

They like vegetation which provides good cover from birds of prey like the rain forest, savanna, mangroves, or marshlands.

The young of the troop are cared for by other females as well as the mother, but not by any males. Social interactions are centered around a group of dominant females. The Common Squirrel Monkey gives birth to a single offspring. Infants are able to climb from birth and the mother's supporting role is less than with other monkeys.

Squirrel monkey groups are subdivided into adult male bands - adult males intermingle with the females only during the months of mating season -mother-infant bands, this being the core of the group and finally juvenile bands, that roam near the mother-infant bands.

This species is not on the endangered species list.

More in the next edition.

Saddle-Back Tamarin

Saddle-Back Tamarin

The Saddle-back Tamarin is a small, common monkey, found throughout western Amazonia. Fast-moving and wary, they are hard find and/or photograph. Their name comes from the "saddle" of thickened hair around the upper back.

They feed on fruits, insects and flowers. The saddle-back tamarin supplements their diet with exudate, nectar, small vertebrates, and soil from arboreal termite mounds. They search for prey in leaf litter, and dip into tree holes, and crevices.
On average saddle-back tamarin groups are comprised of anywhere from 3–10 individuals, with 1–2 adults of each sex, and the rest being immature individuals of different ages.

Home-range size varies between 25–495 acres depending on the overall saddle-back tamarin population in that area. In areas where mixed species live, saddle-back tamarins form mixed-species troops with other tamarin species such as mustached tamarins, red-bellied tamarins, and emperor tamarins. East of the Rio Madeira, saddle-back tamarins have been observed in association with a marmoset species.

A flexible mating system allows for monogamy, and polygamy, depending on the make up of the particular group. Reproduction is moderately seasonal, usually one birth per year.

One bright note is that this species of tamarin is not on the endangered species list.

More in the next edition.

Boto - Pink River Dolphin

Boto - Pink River Dolphin

Boto is the Brazilian name for the river dolphins that live in the tributaries of the Amazon River. The pink river dolphins are found from Peru to Columbia in South America. Some scientists recognize seven sub species of the Boto.

Identifying pink river dolphins is easy due to their unique shape. Unlike other dolphins, the boto has a long fattish body with paddle shaped fins and a ridge along the back rather than a dorsal fin. They have a melon shaped head, they have small eyes, plump cheeks and a long beak holding up to 170 teeth. Another amazing characteristic is that their coloring ranges anywhere from dull grey to white and even pink; hence the name Pink River Dolphin.

Researchers believe that females reach maturity between six to ten years, unlike males who do not mature until 12 years of age. Some botos has been known to live for thirty years.

Pink river dolphins are found mostly in slow moving river basins and streams, but during flood season they leave the deeper channels and explore the flooded forests. The boto is very graceful and can manage swimming through trees without a problem.

Observation shows that botos are most active in the early morning or late evenings. They prefer to swim in groups of anywhere from two to fifteen dolphins.

Botos are very curious and playful which may explain their slow swimming habits. They want to explore everything they see, from pulling on boat oars to coming near a boat or just playing with dolphins in their group.

Because of their flexible bodies botos can swim in very shallow water and weave in and out of trees during the flood season.

Pink river dolphins are often seen swimming upside down. This is probably due to their plump cheeks making downward vision hard for them to do.

According to some legends botos have the magical power to turn into handsome young men and carry off the young women of the tribes!

In 2002 the pink river dolphin was added to the endangered species list. The hope is that this species can be saved and not face the fate of the Chinese species called Baiji that was declared extinct in 2006.

More in the next edition.