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Photo: WWF

Indus River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica ssp. minor) – About 1,000-1,200 Indus river dolphins remain

The Indus River dolphin is one of two subspecies of the Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica). The dolphin is endemic to the rivers of the lower Indus basin in Pakistan and India. The most significant threat to dolphins in the Indus has been the construction of the Indus basin irrigation system that has severely fragmented the population and reduced the amount of available habitat. Removal of water from the river exacerbates and concentrates anthropogenic threats, for example, by increasing the concentration of nutrients and pollutants and forcing the dolphins to congregate in deep pools that are also important areas for fishing. Indus Dolphins are accidentally captured in nets when they stray into irrigation canals which, due to their narrow and shallow dimensions, are easily and heavily fished. Habitat fragmentation of freshwater ecosystems is increasing rapidly, Many hundreds of dams have been constructed, are under construction, or are planned on these rivers and large hydrological changes and losses of biodiversity have occurred and are expected to continue. Its population is fragmented into five subpopulations due to six irrigation barrages on the Indus River. The species is described as ”endangered” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

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