A recent World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) survey has found the number of dolphins in Pakistan’s Indus River has risen significantly over the last 16 years due to successful community-led conservation efforts.
A recent World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) survey has found the number of dolphins in Pakistan’s Indus River has risen significantly over the last 16 years due to successful community-led conservation efforts.
An initial census in 2001 estimated there were 1,200 dolphins living in the Indus River, putting the species on the brink of extinction, but numbers have now increased by 50% to 1,816.
A team of 20 scientists and researchers from WWF-Pakistan, the Zoological Survey of Pakistan, and provincial wildlife departments ran the survey from March 20 to April 13, 2017, during the Indus River’s low water season when dolphin numbers are most concentrated and therefore easiest to count.
Indus river dolphins live exclusively in Pakistan, except for a tiny, isolated population of around 30 dolphins residing in India’s Beas River.
Despite the boost in population numbers, however, Indus river dolphins remain an endangered species.
Due to the construction of dams and barrages along the Indus River, the dolphins are confined to just 20% of their natural habitat and are threatened by increased water pollution, accidental capture in fishing nets, and stranding in irrigation canals.
In response, WWF has led a collaborative effort to the save the species through integrated research, community engagement and effective law enforcement.
A dolphin rescue programme run by WWF-Pakistan and the Sindh Wildlife Department has saved 131 dolphins from stranding since 1992, and a dolphin monitoring network has also been established in collaboration with the local communities, with a 24-hour helpline set up to receive calls about dolphins seen in distress.
Director-General of WWF-Pakistan Naqi Khan said: “Significantly increasing the number of Indus river dolphins since 2001 is a remarkable achievement considering the ever-increasing pressure on the river and the species and it shows that progress is possible when governments, conservationists, and communities work together.
“Indus river dolphin numbers would still be decreasing if it were not for the active participation of communities along the river.
“Our efforts to save the dolphin are also critical for these communities since the species is an indicator of the health of the river, upon which tens of millions of people depend.”
