Natural Deaths Of Giant Otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) In Balbina Hydroelectric Lake, Amazonas, Brazil

In 1987 the Brazilian Northern Electric Company (ELETRONORTE) finished damming the Uatum River that formed the 3,246 km2 lake (containing 3,299 islands) of the Balbina hydroelectric power station. In 2001, through a project entitled "Social organization, behavior and diet of the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) in the influenced area of Balbina hydroelectric power station, Amazonas, Brazil", the authors started to study giant otters in the reservoir (de MATTOS et al., 2002; ZUANON et al., 2002). Despite being an enormous area, we managed to record two dead otters in the lake.