Polluted water endangering Indus dolphin

Considering the dwindling number of dolphins in the Indus River in Pakistan, the UN environment agency the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has declared 2007 as the 'Year of the Dolphin' in an attempt to save one of the world's most endangered mammal.

The Indus River Dolphin's population is said to be under severe threat due to polluted water, poaching, fragmentation of habitat due to barrages and dolphin stranding.

The WWF has listed industrial, agricultural and human pollution, as well as the use of dams and barrages, which restrict the dolphin's movement as some of the major threats facing the aquatic mammal.

Accidental catches by fishermen in the irrigation canals are also contributing to the decline of dolphin population, the Dawn quoted the WWF as saying.

The IUCN has already included the Indus Dolphin in its Red List of mammals. Latest evidence shows that the Indus River Dolphin is the second most endangered dolphin species after the Yangtze River in China's largest river.

A recent survey led by WWF-Pakistan and Sindh and Punjab Wildlife departments revealed that there are fewer than 1100 Indus River dolphins along the 1300 km stretch of the Indus river system, that are divided into five populations due to the presence of six barrages on the Indus River.

River dolphins swim in some of the world's most densely populated river basins, including the Ganges and Indus river basins, where one tenth of the world's people live.

The Pakistan unit of the WWF is said to be working with authorities and local people along the Indus River to improve water quality and dolphin habitat through the Indus River Dolphin Conservation Project. Local communities are being encouraged not to pollute the river with household detergents and to prevent toxic run-off by using natural fertilisers, such as cow manure.

The campaign has been launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in line with the UN Convention on Migratory Species and it will involve governments, NGOs, and the private sector around the world to emphasise the need to protect dolphin species.

In order to raise general awareness and public interest in the conservation of cetacean (whales, dolphins, porpoises etc.) in Pakistan, and to promote the study and conservation of cetaceans in the country, WWF-Pakistan has announced the initiation of the 'Pakistan Whale and Dolphin Group' (PWDG) under the Darwin Initiative Project on the Conservation of Pakistan's Marine Cetacean Biodiversity and Pelagic Environment. (ANI)

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