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Two amazon river dolphins to Korea

Discussion in 'South Korea' started by jwer, 1 Dec 2010.

  1. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    What happened to Artemis? And send Zeus where?

    Shame about Ulises, now Artemis is their only hope of producing unrelated offspring.

    Thanks for the updates ocean_boy! Really appreciate having a spanish talking person help me out with news for the Valencia Aquarium.

    Have you heared of the river dolphin in captivity in Peru, and if so do you have any news about it?
     
  2. ocean_boy

    ocean_boy Well-Known Member

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    The articles only mention Zeus becuase he is the only male in Venezuela, now that Ulises is dead, so he is extremely necessary to continue with the breeding program in that country. But I'm pretty sure that when they mention Zeus, they are referring to Artemis too. The Aquarium is still talking about Korea, so apparently the deal is not over yet.

    Zeus is very important for the breeding program becuase he can reproduce with Artemis and Dalila (who is rumored to be pregnant by Ulises). So, as Dalila can't (or at least won't) be transferred because of her health and age, Zeus should stay in Venezuela. But that's just my opinion.

    About Peru, there is a male dolphin called Huairurin who lives at Quistococha's Zoo (Zoológico de Quistococha in spanish). There is very little information about him. The last time I heard news about him was in 2009, and he was fine. There is a blog that has many youtube videos of him (link: Conoce al delfín rosado del zoológico de Quistococha - ReporTube | Blogs | El Comercio Per ), the newest are from May 2010. I'll try to find more information.
     
  3. reduakari

    reduakari Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The videos of that poor dolphin in Peru are--frankly--disgusting.
     
  4. Dallaspachyderm

    Dallaspachyderm Well-Known Member

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    orphan!

    there is a very young river dolphin calf at the Dallas World Aquarium's manatee orphanage. Apparently (if my spanish is correct) he/she may not be released into the wild. and sent to either the DWA or Iquitos... couldn't tell. Would a fluent spanish speaker please check it out?

    YouTube - Salvando al delfín rosado (Parte 2 de 2)

    very curious... because Iquitos is not the best home...
     
  5. ocean_boy

    ocean_boy Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the video Dallaspachyderm!

    The video says that Nemo, the baby dolphin that was that was rescued from a net. He is in critical condition becuase he needs to gain more weight. They are going to try to free him. The video is from 2008, so no idea what happened with him. He is not living with Huairurin becuase I saw a video from 2011 and he's alone. Most likely he's dead or if he was lucky free.

    It also also mentions Huairurin and says that he could not return to the wild, so he will continue being the main attraction of the zoo. However, the video does not say whether they tried to release it or not.

    The "Zoológico de Quistococha" is not a good place for the dolphin, people can touch him, they do not have money to spend on him, and his pool does not seem to be good.
     
  6. Animal

    Animal Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Is it just me, or is it very strange to hold a riverdolfin like a baby? That can't be right...

    Duisburg always said, that they can't get new riverdolfins, because the animals who are in captivity are in countrys from where the EU would not allow an import.
     
  7. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Sorry, forgot Artemis was female (thought she was male tbh).

    Interesting to hear that the animal is still at Quistococha, perhaps someone can manage to get him over to Valencia... Thanks for all the info anyways Ocean_boy, keep us updated!
     
  8. Dallaspachyderm

    Dallaspachyderm Well-Known Member

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    Oh, I'm assuming he died... Could it be possible that there are other baby river dolphins at the orphanage now that could be sent to deserving aquariums and zoos wishing to specialize in this species?
     
  9. devilfish

    devilfish Well-Known Member

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    This whole story of a return trip from Venezuela to Korea is shocking. I'm amazed that they were sent to an inadequate facility in the first place (mind you, I don't know what the Valencia Aquarium is like).

    Re: Huairurin; I agree that his enclosure and treatment seem disgraceful (judging by youtube videos). I also remember several stories of 'rescued' dolphins being kept in several small zoos along the Amazon and Ucayali rivers; the one which sticks out is a young dolphin at Pucallpa zoo where plans were being made to transfer it to Huachipa (outside Lima, the capital). There were also reports of another at a small zoo which was trying to establish a great reputation (I forget which. I'll look it up.)
    I assume that these have probably all died/been released, unless Huairurin is one of them.
     
  10. ocean_boy

    ocean_boy Well-Known Member

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    It would be great to see Huairurin in Valencia; he could be the breeding male. Valencia's facilities are not the most modern in the world, but is a good place, it's very clean and they are very experienced. I think that they only have two pools, so they want money (so they made a deal with Korea) in order to build a new pool with underwater viewing.

    Dallaspachyderm: unfortunately, every year many babies (and adults) dolphins are caught in nets by fishermen. Some of them are killed, the lucky ones are sent to zoos, aqauriums or other places. So, the orphanage has many chances of receiving dolphins, the biggest problem is that most of them do not survive to the rehabilitation or captivity; they are extremely fragile.
     
  11. Dallaspachyderm

    Dallaspachyderm Well-Known Member

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    Thank you so much! I would love to see a breeding pair at the DWA in the future.. It was what the enclosure was designed for...
     
  12. ses911

    ses911 New Member

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    hi.

    very nice to meet you guys.
    i'm living in daejeon, korea. and working for the some newspaper called 'geum-gang' as a reporter.
    I'm deeply interested in 'two amazon river dolpins to korea(daejeon)'.
    that is one of the current topics in daejeon now.
    but we don't know what's happening(happened) in Valencia.
    it would be great to me if you give me some informations. (Zeus, Artemis photos, Exchange Agreement between valencia and Aquaworld Daejeon, etc)
    i can tell u that we help 'two amazon river dolpins'.
    I'll keep you posted. thank you so much.

    my e-mail adress is [email protected]
     
  13. ocean_boy

    ocean_boy Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately, another river dolphin called Artemis (female) passed away last Saturday. Apparently she died as a result of an infection. Another dolphin, Ulises, died less than a month ago. Professionals will examine the body to determine the causes of death, and to discover if the two deaths are related or not. They suspect that the problem is in the water. It appears that the filtration system has collapsed.

    Currently there are only four dolphins living in the Aquarium: one male and three females. However, he can only breed with one female because the other two are his mother and sister. The future looks dark for the aquarium.

    Here is the link (in spanish): A un mes de la muerte de Ulises, falleci otra tonina en Valencia | Regiones| El Nacional.com
     
  14. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    ? I thought the remaining male Zeus was totally unrelated to the remaining females?

    Edit: Nope you're right, Artemis was the fully unrelated one :(

    Is the third remaining female "Dalila"?

    Real shame about Artemis and considering the water quality may be compromised, we might have to fear about the health of the remaining 1.3 as well :(
     
  15. ocean_boy

    ocean_boy Well-Known Member

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    Yes, one of the remaining female is Dalila who is fully unrelated to Zeus. But she's not the best option for the breeding program, although she is currently pregnant, she has not had a surviving calf yet.

    I'm also concerned about the other dolphins, I hope this run of bad luck is over.
     
  16. ses911

    ses911 New Member

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    hi.

    i'm seo, korean who working for newspaper as a reporter in korea, daejeon.
    can u remember me?
    i asked you guys about amazon two dolpins for about eight months ago.

    i just wondering about amazon dolpins in valencia zoo. recently.

    and what do you think about the death of dolphins that is one of the world's 5 rare animals. too.

    and Has our country the completed resposibilities?
    i used to think that dolpins lives now if our country company didn't to try income our zoo.
    because they are now about to get exterminated.

    Let me know this issues
    and please give me a reply, as soon as possible.

    thanks a lot.

    p/s would u mind if i ask u that your profiles? job, real name, age, nationality e.t.c

    i hope to report this topic
     
    Last edited: 24 Oct 2011
  17. Cat-Man

    Cat-Man Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    :: BIENVENIDOS AL AQUARIUM DE VALENCIA - FUNDACIN J. V. SEIJAS :: For those of you wondering about the facilities at valencia (VE) there is a photo gallery provided on their website. Not great but I'm sure some people expected worse. I hope that Duisburg will be able to replace theirs or atleast get authentic Amazon Manatees!
     
  18. Hyak_II

    Hyak_II Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    They only have the two now sadly, Zeus and Delila.

    However, there I can't find any records for the two other females dying, so they might have been transferred, although that is unlikely.

    Does anyone know if Venezuela is still willing to export the Inia, as they were back in the late 90's ?
     
  19. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Shame how they handled these animals, such a waste. I doubt Venezuela would be willing to export some, but I guess money does a lot in some of those countries. The question is if anyone would (should) be willing to wave the money flag...

    At some point (I think at least 6/7 years ago?) there where pictures on the net of an animal in ... Peru? Kept in a small concrete "pool" on the premises of a small zoo. It said that it was a rescued youngster. Wonder what happened to that animal.
     
  20. Hyak_II

    Hyak_II Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Yes, if someone really wanted, I'm sure a "donation" to the government could see a fresh group of wild caughts leaving the country.

    I agree with you that the handling of these animals in captivity is nothing short of painful, as well. All the animals in North America are dead, most died of sleep deprivation within a few years and by the time they figured out they needed shallow water to sleep, it was to late, there were only a few left, and far from enough to make a breeding population.

    In Europe, we only have one ageing male left from a group of 5. If Duisburg actually wanted they could have had several chances to acquire new stock, but for some reason they seem set on manatees. The worst part is the the Inia and Manatees require very similar conditions to thrive, and have been exhibited together in the past, and if they were managed correctly there could be have potentially been several captive populations throughout Europe at this point, living with or in place of Manatees.

    In South America, they have seemingly had the most "success" despite their arguably worst conditions, with breeding success as recently as 2009, I believe. However they too messed it up, and only have three "official" animals down there now.

    So as it stands, the known captive population is as follows:

    • Baby, the 30+ year old wild caught male in Germany
    • Dalila, the wild caught female who is at least 30 years old, in Venezuela
    • Zeus, a 9 near old captive bred male living with Dalila
    • Huayrurin, the rescue animal living in Peru, who reports are iffy on, but I believe is a female. She's also the youngest, at only 7 years old

    There are two females related to Zeus (mother and 2009 born full sister) who I can't find any death reports on who many still be alive somewhere in South America or possibly even Asia, however it is far more likely they are deceased but without any record of it.


    As for the rescue animal (Huayrurin), it is still alive in Zoológico Quistococha in Peru, and it is still in the deplorable filthy unfiltered pool.

    Its so sad, the Amazon River Dolphin is a species that appears to adapt superbly to captivity given proper conditions (arguably far better so than bottlenoses or orca), however after the initial big imports back in the 80's few seem to be willing to attempt to establish a fresh captive population, and those that try don't seem to see much success. Hopefully at some point a facility or two in, perhaps Canada or Europe, will one day go through the effort to bring up animals from their home range and establish a new captive population. I'm sure if there was a source of captive bred animals, other facilities would not be opposed to displaying them.