In a camping tent in the Peruvian jungle, four scientists crowded around a tiny patient: An Amazonian rodent that could fit in the palm of a human hand.
The researchers placed the small-eared pygmy rice rat into a plastic chamber and piped in anesthetic gas until it rolled over, asleep. Removing the creature from the chamber, they fitted it with a miniature anesthetic mask and measured its body parts with a ruler before gently pulling hairs from its back with tweezers.
Absorbing or ingesting mercury-contaminated water or food has been found to cause neurological illness, immune diseases and reproductive failure in humans and some birds. A research team from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the California nonprofit Field Projects International and Peruvian partner Conservación Amazônica have collected fur and feather samples from more than 2,600 animals representing at least 260 species, including emperor tamarins and brown capuchins, in the 4.5 square kilometer area around the Los Amigos station.
During Reuters' visit to Los Amigos, scientists caught rodents in metal traps baited with peanut butter and snagged birds and a bat in mist nets floating through the forest.The vast majority of small-scale or artisanal miners in the Amazon are mining illegally in protected areas, or working informally - outside reserves but without explicit permission from the government.
"When someone buys their gold engagement ring, they could be causing the Amazon to get a little bit sicker," said Erkenswick Watsa. The operation pushed many miners out of protected areas and into a government-designated mining corridor, according toIn 2021, mining arrived on Los Amigos' doorstep. The station sits on the edge of the mining corridor and overlooks a barren curve across the river where miners have stripped away the forest and replaced it with mining pits.
Back in the sampling tent, the scientists tweezed clumps of the manakin's breast feathers to be sent for analysis, before the bird is returned unharmed to the wild.Animals ingest mercury through their diet — plants, insects, or other animals. Those higher up the food chain generally have higher levels as they accumulate the mercury contained in their prey.
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