Gocta Cataracts

At the time of the discovery, Ziemendorff successfully persuaded the Peruvian government to map the falls and to measure their height.

On 11 March 2006, following his third expedition to the falls, he held a press conference, the contents of which were published by several of the world's wire services.

However, this was apparently based on outdated and incomplete information gleaned from the National Geographic Society, and Ziemendorff's comments as to the waterfalls' ranking have since been widely disputed.

[2][3] right| thumb The daily El Comercio said that the impressive waterfall had remained unknown to outsiders until its announcement, because local people feared the curse of a beautiful blond mermaid who lived in its waters, if they revealed its whereabouts.

On 13 March 2006, the Peruvian government announced to the press that the area surrounding the falls would be developed as a tourist attraction, with a target date sometime in mid-2007.