Six new calves offer hope amid ongoing threats to Cambodia’s Irrawaddy dolphins.
Cambodia's critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin population has grown to an estimated 118 after six calves were confirmed born this year along a stretch of the Mekong, Mongabay reports.
Cambodia's population of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins has risen to an estimated 118 individuals after six calves were confirmed born this year. According to Mongabay contributor Eung Sea, the births took place along a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the Mekong in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, in the northeast of the country.
Conservation officials say the births are a strong sign that the river's only cetaceans can recover if severe environmental threats are curbed. In Cambodia and Laos, the dolphins are regarded as sacred and as a representation of the river's ancestral spirit. They also bring ecotourism income to riverside communities. Heang Koeurn, a boat driver at the Kampi dolphin pool, said people there earn more by taking tourists out to see the animals. The pool is a protected 60-meter-deep (nearly 200-foot) stretch of the Mekong in Kratie that is home to about 20 dolphins.
The population is still well below late-1990s estimates of roughly 200. Sea reported that the decline is largely due to electrofishing, habitat degradation and gillnet entanglement, which is especially deadly for calves. More than 160 dams operating across the Mekong Basin have also changed the hydrology and the fish communities the dolphins depend on for food.
The page points to the 2022 death of the last dolphin in the Anlong Chheu Teal pool, between northern Cambodia and southern Laos, from net entanglement. Community leader Phoy Vanna told Mongabay that tourist numbers there have declined since. Frances Gulland, chair of the U.S.-based Marine Mammal Commission, likened losing the dolphins to "losing a star from the sky."
Local people who guard the habitat work with limited resources and face physical risks from illegal fishers, who are often armed. They earn $5 to $7.50 per day. Cambodia's Fisheries Administration and WWF-Cambodia launched a joint initiative in 2014 to balance dolphin conservation with the needs of local fishers. I Sanaroth, the Kampi fisheries chief, said gillnets are still used inside the protected zones but only on a small scale. He credited joint conservation for the increase and added, "Our work is not done."
At a Glance
- Cambodia's Irrawaddy dolphin population is estimated at 118 after six calves were confirmed born this year.
- The births occurred along a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the Mekong in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces.
- Late-1990s estimates were roughly 200 dolphins in Cambodia's section of the Mekong.
- More than 160 dams operate in the Mekong Basin, altering hydrology and fish communities.
- The last dolphin in the Anlong Chheu Teal pool died from net entanglement in 2022.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.