Ganges River Dolphin Killed By Fishermen To Sell

A Rare Ganges River Dolphin is killed by fisherman in the hope of selling the dolphin as a rare fish, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency.

According to CNN articles on dolphins "The fishermen then tried to sell the body of the Ganges River dolphin as a rare fish. When they failed, the men gave up and dumped it outside a museum -- where a large crowd tried to catch a peek, the national Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news organization reported Tuesday."

The World Conservation Union classifies Ganges River Dolphins as endangered fish and has the following project of hope for the dolphins:

Hope for the Endangered Ganges River Dolphins

Protection of Endangered Ganges River dolphins in the Brahmaputra River, Assam, India is an upcoming project to be funded by the Sir Peter Scott Fund for Conservation Action. Ganges River dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica) occur in the Ganges-Brahmaputra River system primarily in India and Bangladesh. They are listed as Endangered on the IIUCN Red List due to a probable population decline of at least 50% over the last 50 years and projected future population declines due to factors that have not ceased, are not fully understood and are not reversible.

Dolphins have been extirpated from the upper reaches of many rivers, the population has been fragmented by irrigation barrages and dry season habitat is further reduced by large-scale diversion of water. Dolphins are incidentally captured in fishing nets and are also hunted in some areas.

The project will dramatically increase the amount of information on Ganges dolphins in the Brahmaputra River and will also provide recommendations for suitable protected areas. It is hoped that this will encourage the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests to adopt a cautious approach with regards to exploitation of natural resources within its range. Collection of the robust baseline dataset on dolphin distribution, abundance and behaviour will enable negative impacts associated with oil exploration or other human activities to be quantitatively evaluated.

Source: By International Union For Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

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