The small community of Yacu Warmi, at the far end of Ecuador, has made friends with the Amazon river dolphins. Dolphin watching as a little income opportunity is helping the endangered freshwater dolphin to gain new importance for the locals.
Tortoises on the Galapagos Islands were subject to extensive overexploitation for food by sailors and settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, populations are threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Conservation programs like conservation breeding and reintroduction are showing great success, and the tortoise populations are slowly recovering.
