About this episode

The episode discusses the wildlife rescue operation Mymba Kuera at the Itaipu dam, led by Dario Perez Chena, amidst the flooding of animal habitats.

In October 1982, Paraguay and Brazil closed the gates of the Itaipu River, beginning to fill the reservoir of what would soon be the world's largest dam. Located in a rainforest on the border between the two countries, the Itaipu dam would go on to supply vast amounts of energy for decades. But the rising waters also put thousands of animals at risk, as their habitat was flooded. To mitigate this, the company launched one of the largest wildlife rescue operations in South America. It was called Mymba Kuera - 'the animals' in Guarani, the local language. Dario Perez Chena led the operation on the Paraguayan side. He speaks to Stefania Gozzer about the challenges his team faced in saving nearly 30,000 animals. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of…

People in this episode

Host: Stefania Gozzer

Guest: Dario Perez Chena

Topics covered

• wildlife rescue
• Itaipu dam
• environmental impact
• South America
• animal conservation

Keywords

• Itaipu dam
• wildlife rescue
• Mymba Kuera
• Dario Perez Chena
• animal conservation
• Paraguay
• Brazil
• environment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Itaipu

Places: Paraguay, Brazil, Itaipu dam

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