South American river dolphins including the Amazon pink dolphin and the tucuxi face threats from mercury pollution, bycatch, and habitat degradation in the Amazon and Orinoco basins.
River dolphins exposed to mercury accumulation experience neurological damage that impairs echolocation and navigation - the primary senses these essentially blind animals depend on. Bycatch entanglement causes drowning in air-breathing mammals. Deliberately killed dolphins suffer acutely from hunting methods. As intelligent, long-lived mammals with complex social behaviors, river dolphins have rich welfare-relevant lives that human activities are degrading across the Amazon basin. The intersection of mining, fishing, and development pressures creates a cumulative welfare crisis.