Animals Volunteers help protect Ganges dolphins
Efforts to protect dolphins in the Ganges seem to be bearing fruit: for some years now, more sightings of the shy animals have been reported in India, Ruchi Badola from the Wildlife Institute of India told the German Press Agency.
19.10.2024, 06:42
SDA
"We can report dolphins in places where there were no such reports before." This positive development is particularly significant as the Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN estimates that a total of around 4700 to 5200 representatives of the species still live in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In order to protect the Ganges dolphin, a government-funded programme was launched eight years ago, which now mobilizes more than 5,000 volunteers. They make sure that less waste gets into the wild, report poaching and environmental pollution, rescue sick or injured dolphins and raise awareness among the population. "Nowadays, whenever we receive a report of a dolphin caught in nets or being rescued, volunteers are involved," said scientist Badola. The animals can grow to more than two meters in length and weigh up to 150 kilograms.
Ganges dolphins are already mentioned in ancient mythological texts - there are also depictions of them in Hindu temples. There are said to have once been many of them. But after independence from British colonial rule, their numbers dropped significantly, says biologist Ravindra Kumar Sinha. At that time, more dams and settlements were built along the river and pesticides from agriculture and industrial wastewater entered the Ganges.
