One such species under serious threat is the Indian
river dolphin, often referred to as the Gangetic dolphin,
as it is found mainly in the Ganga and its tributaries.
Also known as the ‘Fresh Water Tiger’, the
dolphin is a highly threatened species. WWF-India acts
as a nodal agency and provides technical support and
database to researchers and the scientific community
involved in dolphin research.
WWF-India established a Dolphin Action Group in May
1997, to strengthen the ongoing efforts for the protection
of the Indian river dolphin. Besides other activities,
WWF-India acts as a nodal agency and provides technical
support and database to researchers and the scientific
community involved in dolphin research
The Ganges river dolphin, known locally as the 'susu',
was once common throughout many of the rivers in India,
Nepal and Bangladesh. It has disappeared from much of
its former habitat over the last 100 years and its future
is uncertain. There may be as few as 4,000 to 5,000
left. Dams and barrages pose a major threat to the future
of river dolphins, as they isolate the dolphins, preventing
them from swimming freely up and down rivers. Ganges
river dolphins have very poor eyesight. They use echolocation
to find their prey, which they catch in their long beak,
which contains many small, sharp teeth.
The
Vikramshila River Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar, India,
is the only designated protected area for this endangered
dolphin in Asia. Sadly, the Sanctuary has no formal
conservation plan and many local people are unaware
of its protected status and regulations. Because of
this, river dolphins are still being killed in the Sanctuary,
both deliberately and as a result of entanglement in
fishing nets. To add to these problems, the Indian government
is considering plans to allow huge oil tankers to pass
through the Sanctuary on their way to upstream refineries.
There
is now a vital need for the activities of this WDCS
project to be strengthened on the basis of the Vikramshila
Gangetic Dolphin Conservation Action Plan. Elements
of the Action Plan include:
1) strengthening community awareness
and participation;
2) encouraging community ownership
and management of fisheries;
3) establishing a river biodiversity
research and education centre;
4) educating government agencies and
influential individuals;
5) promoting river dolphins as a flagship
species of healthy rivers;
6) monitoring the status of dolphins
and environmental conditions in the Sanctuary;
7) conducting focused conservation
efforts in areas where dolphins are found in greatest
abundance; and
8) promoting oil made from fish scraps
as an alternative to dolphin oil for attracting fish. |
