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NATURE
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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NatureÌýoffersÌýa window on global natural history, providing a unique insight into the natural world, the environment, and the magnificent creatures that inhabit it.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 min |
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| The mighty Amazon River |
Amazon Adventure
The Amazon Basin is the largest river basin in the world, covering some 6 million square kilometres in the north-eastern part of South America.Ìý Biologist Adrian Barnett has spent many years studying the wildlife of the Amazon, most recently within Brazil.
Travelling through flooded forests, up and down tributaries, and exploring drying out pools and lakes with local scientists, he discovers an intriguing world of South American wildlife.ÌýÌý
One of the biggest mammals to be found on the Amazon river is the giant otter.ÌýIn many places in South America it has suffered due to persecution and loss of habitat.ÌýÌýThe Balbina Dam, which at the time of its construction was deemed as an environmental disaster for the Amazon,Ìýseems to have enabled a healthy population of giant otters to survive.Ìý
TheÌýwaters of the Amazon river are very rich in fish - many different species inhabiting little niches. Because the environment is poor in food types, it is the different feeding tactics the fish have had to employ to find food that have led to the species diversifying as Adrian discovers when he finds some unusual looking catfish.Ìý
In one small backwater, Adrian and fish biologist, Dr Chris Aadland, find a pool boiling with about 30 electric eels. With a special sensor dropped into the pool, Adrian is able to hear the electrical discharges being given off by these fish.
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RELATED LINKS
The Amazon River
The Giant Otter Project
Amazonian FishÌý
National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA)
The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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