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olombia, one of the largest environmental hubs in the planet, with a territory of more than 1 million square kilometres, has been warning about the dangers of

"ecocide" caused by the country's drug cartels for several years.

In Colombia there are over seven-million creatures that are being smuggled, captured and sold to other countries and those Colombian species will include species like marmosets, ocelots, margay, as well as golden lion tamarin, toucans and macaw. Due to these criminals practics there are thousands of species who are in danger of being added to Colombian endangered species.

The government must to make campaigns of massive information and implement stricter laws. Also, work together with local communities and non-government organizations who are working closely with environmental concerns, for to implement effective conservation and prevent these animals from vanishing completely.

Colombians must take aware that the threats facing our rainforests are a global issue that will have an impact on climatic stability. The environment and the protection of endangered animals is an issue that is important to everyone.

We must to be a voice for those who can´t speak – the plight of endangered animals !!.

Arcelia Arias Diaz Director Editorial

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ven though Colombia is among the top 12 most biologically diverse countries in the world, the lack of sustainable

development and the over exploitation of biologically diverse areas threatens both the flora and fauna of the country.

According to an article in El Tiempo, Colombia has the most unique species of birds and amphibians in the world. It is third in the number of diverse mammals, and fourth in diversity of reptiles.

Illegal drug production poses one of the greatest threats to certain species, as it reduces natural habitats and contributes to the free-for-all killing of jaguars and other large mammal species.

In addition to the ecological threats posed by illegal drug production, the social conflict and the resulting lack of work opportunities has caused some of Colombia's population to turn to the hunting and trafficking of animals in order to make ends meet. At risk are parrots, turtles, tigrillos, racoons, and anteaters to name a few. Over 10 years ago, the BBC produced a report about the illegal animal trafficking from Colombia to points abroad. At that time, it was estimated that over 7 million animals were illegally trafficked each year.

Parrots, toucans and macaws, the golden lion tamarin, marmosets, ocelots and margay cats, even baby alligators, are victims of a savage traffic. Large areas of jungle are stripped of every living thing. The bigger animals are packed into boxes and often flown out on the same illegal flights used for smuggling cocaine because, as one animal trafficker said, pound for pound parrots pay better than drugs. The endangered scarlet macaw can be bought in Leticia, on the Amazon river, for $20 to £50 but in New York it can fetch £5,000 or more, if of course it arrives alive, for the report by the Minister of the Environment says that far more than half of the animals die on route. And of course every one that is killed or taken from its habitat reduces the chances of an endangered species surviving.

On the list of animals whose trading is internationally banned are 49 Colombian species in serious danger of extinction, but enforcement of the international agreement is very weak.

According to Endangered Species International, in Colombia over 200 species are critically endangered and the status of more than 180 species is unknown.

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The list of Colombia’s critically endangered species include mammals, some are endangered like the Gorga’s Rice Rat, the Colombian Weasel, Cotton-top Tamarin, Dry land Mouse Oppossum, Giant Otter, Variegated Spider monkey, the American Manatee, the brown hairy dwarf porcupine, the bush dog, the Central American Tapir, the Choco Broad-nosed bat, the Yellow-eared Parrot, the Colombian Woolly monkey, the giant anteater, the ghost bat, the handley’s nectar bat including the night monkey, the Orinoco Crocodile, the long-haired spider monkey and Pacarana are all included in the list.

Brown Spider Monkey

These animals are hunted down, caged for zoo presentations, sold illegally to other nations or hunted down by the people in the area.

Other species that are at risk like the ornate titi monkey, the red uakari, the spectacled bear, the white-footed tamarin and other animals like the sperm whale have never even been seen in other countries .

More than half of the amphibian species found in the Colombian Andes (6 percent of the

world’s diversity) are endangered.

The Night Monkey is an endangered species

The superb Yellow-eared Parrot is a critically endangered species

Orinoco crocodile

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Experts fear the tiny hummingbird, the Gorgeted Puffleg, is one of several hundred species that will become extinct within decades if Colombia's rainforests continue to be razed for the purposes of coca cultivation. Other animals under threat include the harpy eagle, titi monkey, golden poison frog, tapir, spectacled bear and gorgona blue lizard.

With globally significant biodiversity levels, the Central and Western cordilleras of the Colombian Andes support several species that exist nowhere else.

There are hundreds of dazzlingly beautiful birds in Colombia, a total of 1805 known species, more than any other country. But if the animal traffickers are not stopped, many will soon only be photographs in bird books.

Caquetá titi monkeys, is struggling to survive as a result of deforestation and habitat fragmentation. This specie fit the criteria to be classified as critically endangered; only a few hundred are believed to exist in the wild.

The Caquetá titis, are in danger of extinction, 600 species in risk of extinction in Colombia

The Colombian lake duck once thrived in wetlands of the Bogotá savannah and large Andean lagoons in the 1940’s. Indiscriminate hunting left just a memory of a stuffed animal at Natural Sciences

Institute museum. Amongst the threatened species is the Colombian tarantula which thrives in temperate Andean areas. Threat comes from illegal species trafficking which values them at approximately US $30 (Col $60.000).

These tarantulas are biological controllers which feed on insects and pests which attack crops and invade homes; they feed on beetles and limit excessive population growth, that is their role in the environment.

Another threatened species is the Titanius giganteus beetle which belongs to the largest insect category in the world. It reaches sizes as large as 16 to 18 centimeters (6-7 inches) exceeded only by stick insects which reach up to 20 cms (7.8 in.). Its distribution is limited to tropical moist forests and lowlands of the Magdalena valley.

Also, new populations of the critically endangered Dahl's toad-headed turtle in Colombia.

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he Amazon River dolphins or Pink River Dolphins are being increasingly being

killed and used for fish bait. Their distinctive pink color and inquisitive nature have made them easy prey for poachers, and their species is becoming extinct throughout various parts of the world.

This dolphin, is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia River systems of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is one of five fresh water dolphins in the world.

Description This dolphin can grow larger than a human.

They have a unique characteristic in the shape of their unfused vertebrae in their neck which allows them to turn their heads 180 degrees. This characteristic gives them greater flexibility when looking for food and swimming in shallow waters.

Their flexibility is important in navigating through the flooded forests. Also, they possess long beaks which contain 24 to 34 conical and molar-type teeth on each side of the jaws.

They are between 8.25 ft (2.5 m) and 9.75 ft (3 m) long and usually weigh around 200 lbs (90 kg).

When the water levels drop, the dolphins move either into the main river channels or into large lakes in the forest, and take advantage of the concentrated prey in these reduced water bodies. They feed on crustaceans, crabs, small turtles, catfish, piranha, shrimp, and other fish.

Size compared to an average human

Hairy Beak? The Amazon River dolphin, pink dolphin, has stiff hairs on its

beak; the hairs are a sensory organ that help the Amazon River Dolphin sense prey in the muddy river bottoms.

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Behavior

Adult males have been observed carrying objects in their mouths, objects such as branches or other floating vegetation, balls of hardened clay. The males appear to carry these objects as a socio-sexual display which is part of their mating system. The behaviour is "triggered by an unusually large number of adult males and/or adult females in a group, or perhaps it attracts such into the group. A plausible explanation of the results is that object carrying is aimed at females and is stimulated by the number of females in the group, while aggression is aimed at other adult males and is stimulated by object carrying in the group.

The male reaches sexual maturity at about 2 metres and the female at about 1.7 metres Most calves are born between July and September after a gestation period of 9 to 12 months; they are about 0.81 metres long at birth and weigh about 6.8 kilograms. The young follow their parents closely for a few months, and often two adults are seen swimming with two or more small juveniles.

Human interaction

Dolphins are well known for their intelligence but the intelligence level of the pink river dolphin is not well known. Physically, the ratio of brain mass to body weight compares in such a way which would suggest that they’re very similar to

the bottlenose dolphin, which is known for its intelligence. This species are especially known for their almost friendly, curious nature and they are able to quickly learn to associate man with fun, danger or other traits.

Stiff Neck The Amazon River Dolphin, pink dolphin, is able to move

its neck unlike other dolphin species that have a fused vertebrae. The Amazon River Dolphin is able to look

side to side and up and down.

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The Amazon River Dolphin, pink dolphin is endangered for a few main reasons.

Both of the reasons causing this amazing pink dolphin to be endanger have to do with us, humans. Like most creatures that are endangered, humans have a part in their dismay. The greatest threat to the pink dolphin is the accidental drowning in gill nets.

Next to drowning there is a great threat on the fresh water dolphin's food supply. Over fishing, deforesting of the river-edge, agricultural polluting, paper milling and mining, and hydroelectric dam building. Hydroelectric dams reduce the number of fish species and isolate populations of dolphins. These all affect the Amazon River Dolphins food supply.

Many fresh water dolphins are dying because of poisoning. Either directly from the water, or through their food.

All of these factors lead to the Amazon River Dolphin's population decreasing, because of over - increasing environmental deterioration. Their habit is deteriorating due to human factors.

The Amazon River Dolphin is also hunted. Which also decreases the ever dwindling fresh water dolphin population.

Scientists believe that 1,500 dolphins are being killed annually in the western Amazon to fuel a lucrative trade in catfish, which feeds on dead animals.

"The population of the river dolphins will collapse if these fishermen are not stopped from killing them," said Vera da Silva, the top aquatic mammals expert at the government's Institute of Amazonian Research.

"We've been studying an area of 27,000 acres for 17 years, and of late the population is dropping seven percent each year."

Dolphin carcasses became a common sight along riverbanks since the year 2000, killed by humans, with their flesh cut away. While it is illegal to kill the dolphins without governmental permission, the problem is ongoing, and little if anything has been done to stop it. Five agents are tasked with protecting wildlife in a jungle region covering the western two-thirds of Amazonas state, more than twice the size of Texas. "It's a matter of priority, and right now the government is focusing on deforestation," said Ibama's Andrey Silva. "The killing of these dolphins exists - it's a fact." The dolphins' fatty flesh that is a highly effective bait for catching a type of catfish, called the piracatinga. According to the Associated Press, high consumption in neighboring Colombia is driving the slaughter. The situation bespeaks a very grim economic fact about life in the Amazon. Killing dolphins is free, and their meat is valuable. Using the flesh from one carcass, fishermen can catch up to 1,100 pounds of piracatinga. Poachers can then sell the catfish for 50 cents per kilogram, translating into $550 for just a few nights' work - about double Brazil's monthly minimum wage. "It's attracting a lot of poor people to this region to kill the dolphins and make easy money," Antonio Miguel Migueis, a dolphin researcher with the Federal University of Western Para since 2005 says. "This is most definitely a threat to the future of this river dolphin species," Alison Wood, with the England-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society says. "This is a relatively new threat, but clearly an extremely serious one."

Eyes and Ears The Amazon River Dolphin, pink dolphin, has great

eyesight and excellent hearing.

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Goal: Prevent The Amazon River’s Pink Dolphins from being slaughtered and endangered by fishermen.

nvironmental law enforcement along the Amazon River is short-handed when

policing the vast amount of determined fishermen that catch their profits there every day. As a result, fishermen openly hunt the Amazon’s endangered pink dolphin, cutting off its fin to use as bait for reeling in other fish. Fishermen generally have little opposition killing the dolphin, as the animal poses a threat to business, serving both as a nuisance as well as fishing competition.

The pink dolphin’s fin serves is the most lucrative baiting material, which is why fishermen insist on slaughtering the dolphin. The New York Times quotes one fishermen stating, “I have harpooned some just to be mean,” and then describes how the fishermen lifted “a harpoon to demonstrate how he would spear dolphins at close range.”

In addition to the fierce battle between dolphin and fishermen, pollution, hydroelectric dams, and the dangerous propellers on fishing boats are all part of a list of dangers that contribute to the pink dolphin’s demise. But, a lack of compassion from fishermen and locals alike has a deep impact on the dolphins’ rate of endangerment. Also, regulators are desperately swimming upstream to prevent such frequent instances of illegal fishing. According to the New York Times, IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, only has 1,300 regulators for the entire country. But, the Amazon region alone is larger than India, providing a stark perspective on how little resources IBAMA has to monitor the river.

The pink dolphins of the Amazon are yet another casualty of competitive and merciless overfishing. The fishermen and locals are killing an animal that is part of their country’s ancient myth and folklore, but this kind animal so ingrained in region’s culture and environment will soon face extinction. Everyone must to demand adequate policing of illegal fishing tactics throughout the Amazon River.

Peaceful Existence The Amazon River Dolphin, pink dolphin, does not have

any natural enemies.

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oceanwideimages.com

www.endargeredriverdolphin.com

www.allaboutwildlife.com

www.catholic.org

forcechange.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/despatches/americas/23515.stm