Bangladesh's majestic dolphins at risk - BBC

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Monday, 28 January 2008, 16:07 GMT

Bangladesh's majestic dolphins at risk
By Alastair Lawson
BBC News, in the Sunderbans of Bangladesh

Seeing the river dolphins of Bangladesh is not something
that is easily forgotten. They rise arc-like and majestic out
of the water only inches from boats that ply the rivers of
the country's south.

In a country where the wildlife population has been denuded
because of over-crowding and pollution, dolphins provide
visitors with a beautiful and memorable surprise.

But conservationists say they are increasingly concerned over
the future of the country's river dolphin population, some of
which they warn may even be at risk of extinction.

They say that it is rapidly declining because of over-fishing,
a shortage of prey, pollution and declining freshwater supplies.

'Isolated'

Experts are particularly concerned over the fate of two species
- the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin whose
numbers they say have significantly reduced over the last
decade.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7192200.stm

It's amazing that fishing nets and the nearly complete diversion of the Colorado River for human use hasn't killed them off yet.



http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/about_species/species_factsheets/cetaceans/vaquita/index.cfm