Page 67 - BBC Knowledge - October 2017 IN

Cubs are cared for by their aunts
and uncles, as well as by
the breeding pair. If danger
threatens, they are quickly
moved to safety

Black caiman can exceed
4m in length and tackle
prey as large as pigs, so
are formidable opponents

DANGER IN THE WATER
THE AMAZON GOLDRUSH

In the past, hunting was the worst threat facing Diablo and his kind:
otter-fur coats were all the rage in Milan in the 1970s. But, today,
one of the main dangers comes not from fashion but from gold.
Gold-mining operations have degraded many lakes in the Amazon
Basin: the accompanying dredging and tree-felling releases sediment
into rivers, severely depleting fish populations, while the mercury
that leaches into the water during the gold-extraction process
poisons fish and, ultimately, the otters that eat them.
Even if mining stopped immediately, the heavy-metal
contaminants could potentially linger in the food chain
for up to 300 years.

Pollution from gold mining
has led to local extinctions
of giant otters in much
of their Amazonian range