Amazon River Dolphin
(Inia geoffrensis)
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
TOP THREATS
CURRENT STATUS
SPECIES OVERVIEW
The Amazon river dolphin, known locally as the boto, is one of South America’s most recognizable freshwater animals. Its pink coloration and long, slender snout set it apart from every other dolphin species on Earth. Found throughout the rivers and flooded forests of the Amazon Basin, botos have adapted to a life shaped by rising and falling water levels rather than tides, and they hold deep cultural significance across the region, appearing in local folklore for generations. Today, though, the boto’s future is far less certain, as a widening range of threats puts its long-term survival at risk.
SPECIES RANGE
Botos are found nowhere else but the freshwater systems of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Rivers, tributaries, lakes, and seasonally flooded forests all fall within their range, and how far that range stretches depends on the season. When the rains come and rivers overflow into the surrounding forest, botos follow the water in. As the floods recede, they retreat to the main channels. That flexibility is part of what makes them so well suited to one of the world’s most dynamic freshwater environments.
THE PROBLEMS
Botos face a mix of threats, most stemming from how closely their habitat overlaps with human activity along the river. Accidental entanglement in fishing gear is one of the most common, as dolphins can become caught in nets meant for fish. In some parts of the basin, dolphins are also killed deliberately for use as bait in illegal fisheries, a practice conservationists, local communities, and regional authorities have worked to curb through fishing moratoriums and enforcement. Dam construction, deforestation, and river modification are reshaping the waterways botos depend on, disrupting natural water flow, fragmenting populations, and cutting off access to feeding and breeding grounds. Mercury from gold mining, agricultural runoff, and plastic waste are contaminating the rivers, harming both the dolphins and the fish they rely on for food.
Climate change adds another layer of pressure. Shifting rainfall patterns and increasingly extreme floods and droughts can strand dolphins in shrinking waterways or trap them in shallow, disconnected pools. Rising boat traffic and underwater noise interfere with their ability to communicate and navigate, and declining fish populations put even more strain on an already limited food supply. The effects reach well beyond the boto itself, touching the health of the entire freshwater ecosystem it calls home.
WHAT WE’RE DOING AND WHY
Through Operation GRACE, NMMF works with regional partners in Colombia and Brazil to protect Amazon river dolphins and share long-term local capacity rooted in science and conservation medicine.
In Colombia, NMMF partners with Fundación Omacha, Colombian scientists, and veterinarians, with support from Dolphin Quest, to carry out health assessments that look at how environmental change, including water quality and mercury contamination, affects dolphin health. Colombian team members have received hands-on training in health assessment and ultrasound techniques, so local experts can lead ongoing monitoring while working with NMMF scientists to interpret data and shape conservation strategy.
In Brazil, NMMF works alongside the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute, Brazilian biologists, veterinarians, and local fishers to monitor boto populations and build baseline health data. When an extreme drought and heatwave triggered a large scale die off in Lake Tefé, Operation GRACE experts responded quickly, supporting mortality investigations and helping develop emergency response protocols now used as a model for coordinated action across river dolphin range countries.
These collaborations are strengthening regional expertise and emergency response capacity, and keeping conservation work for Amazon river dolphins grounded in local leadership and sound science, all in service of protecting the freshwater ecosystems these dolphins depend on for the long term.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Your support helps protect the Amazon river dolphin and other vulnerable species through Operation GRACE and NMMF’s science-driven research, veterinary expertise, and conservation action. Every gift supports health assessments, population studies, rescue and response efforts, and collaborative fieldwork with local experts, all aimed at understanding the threats these dolphins face and protecting the river ecosystems they depend on.
