India has 6,327 riverine dolphins, says first-ever survey

Ahmedabad/New Delhi: India houses 6,327 riverine dolphins and nearly 90 per cent of them live in the Ganga or its tributaries, according to the first ever estimation of the species, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

The population estimation of river dolphins shows most of them live either in the Ganga or Brahmaputra river systems as only three species were found in Beas, which is a part of the Indus river system.

Ganga houses 3,275 dolphins whereas 2,414 individuals were found in its tributaries. Similarly, Brahmaputra houses 584 of them while its tributaries house 51 of them.

The population estimation was undertaken as part of Project Dolphin to protect these aquatic animals as an umbrella species, whose conservation will result in the well-being of associated habitat and biodiversity.

The main component of the survey was carried out in boats over a stretch of 8,500 km in 28 rivers across eight states. Uttar Pradesh (2,397) recorded the highest number of dolphins, followed by Bihar (2,220), West Bengal (815), Assam (635) and Jharkhand (162).

While this is the first country-wide river dolphin estimation, a 2018 study by scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India noted at least a 50-65% loss in the number of species since the 19th century.

Dolphins are impacted by anthropogenic and natural threats, which includes habitat loss, habitat degradation, reduction in flow, pollution, poaching, net entanglement, river navigation, unsustainable fishery practices and sand mining, to name a few.

Due to a decline in flow and increased deaths of dolphins due to entanglement and poaching for oil, the species has gone extinct locally in parts of Yamuna, as well as in of Ken, Betwa, and in Barak rivers, the Union Environment Ministry notes in a report.

The Prime Minister released the Project Dolphin report after chairing a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife at Gir sanctuary in Gujarat.

Emphasising on the importance of awareness on dolphin conservation by involvement of local population and villagers in the areas, Modi advised the forest officials to conduct exposure visits of school children in dolphin habitat areas.

The Prime Minister also announced expansion of the cheetah reintroduction programme to Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Banni Grasslands in Gujarat. He also announced a National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan.

For the first time, 12 Great Indian Bustards were tagged -2 in Gujarat and 10 in Rajasthan - providing key insights into their reproductive behaviour, the ministry notes.