Scientists report colony of Galápagos fur seals in northern Peru

The Organization for Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals, or Orca, says a colony of fur seals endemic to the Galápagos Islands have established a colony off the coast of northern Peru as a result of increased sea surface temperature in the region.

The colony includes 30 fur seals that traveled 1,500 kilometers, about 932 miles, from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands to the Foca Island, located off the coast of Peru’s Piura department, daily El Comercio reported. The president of Orca, Carlos Yaipén, says the Foca colony is the first reported outside the Galápagos archipelago and due to an increase in sea temperature caused by climate change. Read more…

Peru launches immunizations campaign against rabies in jungle communities

Peru’s Health Ministry announced Wednesday ongoing immunizations against a possible outbreak of rabies in indigenous communities in the country’s north-eastern Amazonas department after the deaths of seven children bitten by bats. Read more…

Disney Gives $1 mn to Peru Forest Conservation

The Walt Disney Company is to invest $7 million this year in forest conservation programs, $1 million of which will be given to the Alto Mayo Protection Forest in the department of San Martin, in northern Peru. Read more…

Peru and Ecuador sign unprecedented environmental cooperation agreement

Peru Environment Minister Antonio Brack Egg and his Ecuadorian counterpart Marcela Aguiñaga signed an unprecedented environmental cooperation agreement on Wednesday, to favor the joint monitoring and conservation of protected areas and the responsible and sustainable use of natural resources. Read more…

Amazon natives launch innovative forest conservation program

Native leaders and communities in Peru’s central Amazon region have launched an innovative forest conservation program, designed to halt deforestation and illegal logging in its tracks. Read more…

Machu Picchu park guards spot believed-to-be-extinct Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat

Historical Sanctuary of Machu Picchu park guards caught a glimpse – and cell phone photos – of the believed-to-be-extinct and never-to-be-seen Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat, known only from two skulls found at Inca burial sites in the region.

“When I saw the photo, I got chills,” said biologist Julio Ochoa. “They took about 40 photos of the rodent near the Wiñay Huayna watch post,” located approximately 5 kilometers southeast of the world famous citadel of Machu Picchu.

The park guards who found the rodent reported that it was injured. After nursing it for three days, they then set it free, unaware of its scientific importance.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Machu Picchu Arboreal Chinchilla Rat, or Cuscomys oblativus, was assessed as extinct in 2008.

“This species is listed as Extinct because it is only known from two old skulls estimated to be around 400 years old collected at an Inca burial site. It has not been located during any surveys,” reports the Red List.

Climate change: intense cold front has killed 20,000 alpaca in Puno so far this year

Climate change continues to wreck havoc in Peru’s southern Altiplano, where the arrival of freezing temperatures since March — almost three months earlier than usual — have killed at least 20,000 alpaca, reported Peru’s National Agriculture and Sanitation Service, or Senasa.

Since January, approximately 20,000 alpaca – a number that still remains within normal limits – have died, and 73,000 others have suffered from various illnesses due to the cold, said Senasa Director Reinaldo Llano Flores.

Alpacas, or vicugna pacos, is a domesticated species of South American camelid, and resembles a small llama. These animals are mostly kept in herds, and bred specifically for their high-quality fiber.

When exposed to cold temperatures, alpacas are most likely to suffer from pneumonia, gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, and enterotoxaemia – an infection by Clostridium perfringens, bacteria which affects several types of domesticated animals, but not humans.

“Most families who raise alpacas in high Andean areas don’t have sufficient forage stored for their animals. And if their animals eat grass, they could suffer from enterotoxaemia and die if they are not treated with antibiotics,” said Hernán Saavedra, the regional director of Peru’s National Meteorology and Hydrology Institute or Senamhi.

“We need more money to buy medicine and to prevent more deaths,” said Llano in comments to daily El Comercio.

Barbara Fraser interviews Ohio State glaciologist Lonnie Thompson about the implications of global climate change on Peru’s melting glaciers

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Mother whale beached at Chorrillos’ La Chira Beach dies in spite of rescue efforts, sick baby likely to die

An 80-ton whale stranded at Chorrillos’ La Chira Beach has died in spite of rescue efforts, and her sick baby – still struggling to get back to sea – is also likely to die, reported daily El Comercio.

According rescue scientist Carlos Yaipén, the 16-meter long and 80-ton mother whale and her baby were most likely found so close to the Lima shoreline because of the baby’s health problems. Preliminary health checks have determined that the baby whale is suffering from respiratory difficulties, fatigue, and because it has swallowed fishing nets, it is unlikely to survive.

Beached whales usually die because the weight of their body impedes breathing, vital organs are crushed by the great weight, and the unaccustomed temperature interval between night and day can give rise to internal chills and pneumonia.

According to Dr. William Alexander Osborne, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Melbourne, “whales do not die because they are stranded; they are stranded because they are dying.”

Environment Ministry launches environmental conservation program in Peru’s Amazon

Peru Environment Minister Antonio Brack has launched the “Conserving Together” program, which aims to favor the protection of the Amazon forest by financially rewarding Amazonian communities who take steps to do so.

“We are structuring the program with Peru’s indigenous communities,” said Brack in comments to Canal N. “They could become involved in eco-tourism or other similar initiatives, but the idea is not to cut down trees.”

According to Brack, an annual payment will be made to communities involved in developing and carrying out projects aimed to protect the Amazon’s ecological and biological diversity, as well as its primary forests.

So far, 110 million soles, or $37 million, have been set aside for the “Conserving Together” program.

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