A Closer Look | Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Hussain Aga Khan’s Image

Hussain Aga Khan (Switzerland) frames a gracefully agile Amazon river dolphin, also known as a boto.

Hussain’s portrait shows a wild boto near a pontoon along the Rio Negro river in Manaus, Brazil.

Here tourists can pay to feed the animals. Wildlife tourism may help boost conservation interest, but it can cause harm if the botos become reliant on being fed.

In Brazil’s Mamirauá Reserve, the boto population declined by 70% in the 22 years to 2018.

Botos are also used as bait for the vulture catfish, which is in demand.

To limit this, the Brazilian government renewed its fishing ban on vulture catfish in 2023.