Posted on November, 10 2006

WWF Nepal is supporting Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and Department of Forest (DoF) to rescue Gangetic dolphins found in Babai River (Bhada River in local language) in the mid-western lowlands of Nepal playing in a radius of 2 Km near Gularia, the headquarter of Bardia District.

The dolphins, mother and a calf, is believed to have come upstream through a canal on the Indian side during the floods caused by incessant monsoon rains in late September. The canal is 5 km south from the dolphin spotted site. The drop in water level in the river has prevented it from swimming downstream. It is mostly spotted in the deeper part of the river.

The support provided by WWF Nepal at the field level and the awareness raising activities in dolphin conservation together with local partners helped them realize the significance of dolphins. Therefore, local people immediately reported the siting to the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) program office.

WWF Nepal has commissioned Dr. Tej Kumar Shrestha- dolphin expert, Mr. Dipesh Joshi- TAL Project Assistant and a team to rescue the stranded animal. WWF Nepal’s Regional Office together with the Integrated Conservation and Development Center is mobilizing local fishermen and community members to capture the dolphin for its safe release in River Karnali. The rescue operation is ongoing.

The Gangetic River Dolphins, Platanista Gangetica, belongs to the order Cetacea and are the largest freshwater mammals found in the Indian subcontinent. According to CITES, they are considered as Vulnerable species under Appendix 1. IUCN revised the threatened status of the dolphin from vulnerable to Endangered (IUCN 1996), however, does not figure on the 2003 IUCN Red List of endangered mammals of Nepal. Although its status remains endangered, it has been classified as Not Evaluated since there has been no combined assessment of the species (IUCN 2004). Dolphins are legally protected animal in Nepal as endangered mammal and are under Schedule I of the protected list of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973.