Freshwater Dolphin
Dolphin in Nepal's River Water. Photo by: Dr. Sambhu Paudel
Nepal's Amazing and Rare Freshwater Dolphins
The Ganges River Dolphin (GRD) is locally known as susu is listed as endangered in IUCN Red List of Threatened Taxa. The species is found in different parts of the Ganges, Meghna, and Brahmaputra River systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It is regarded as the ‘Tiger of the Ganges.'
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The Ganga River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetic) is the only cetacean species found in Nepal river system (Sapta Koshi, Narayani and Karnali). Paudel and colleagues visually recorded 30 individuals of the Ganga River Dolphin. Construction of Hydropower dams, irrigation projects, pollution from agriculture and industry and other development are the major threats to the species. Such development works have led to habitat loss and isolated the population reducing its range. In addition to this, the niche overlap with artisanal fisheries have put pressure on the species. The research conducted in 2011 on assessment of the factors affecting movement of River Dolphin in Karnali River, one of the prime habitats, found that distribution of Gangetic dolphins, and its range has been declining by 0.495 and 1.165 km since 1982.
In this episode we will learn about threats to the species, ecological niche between artisanal and Ganges River Dolphin, and various conservation efforts made in Nepalese water system.
Airdate July 06, 2022
The Humans & Wildlife Show, Ep.48
