Why In The News?
- India’s first centre for research on conserving the endangered Gangetic river dolphin was inaugurated in Patna, Bihar.
- Bihar is home to around half of the estimated 3,000 Gangetic dolphins in India.
Objective:
=> The NDRC seeks to serve as a central hub for research on diverse facets of Gangetic dolphins, including studies on their behavior, survival mechanisms, and factors contributing to mortality.
Ganges River Dolphins (also called ‘susu’):
=> Scientific Name: Platanista Gangetica.
=> Discovery: Officially discovered in 1801.
=> Habitat and Distribution: Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers & their tributaries in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
=> Characteristics:
- Only live in freshwater & does not have a crystalline eye lens, rendering it effectively blind.
- Navigation and hunting through a highly developed ‘sonar system’, using echolocation (ultrasonic sounds).
- The body is a brownish colour and stocky in the middle.
- They are usually found in turbulent waters, where there are enough fish for them to feed on.
- Gangetic dolphins live in a zone where there is little or no current, helping them save energy.
=> Significance:
- Indicator of the health of the entire river ecosystem.
- Controlling and maintaining healthy fish and crustacean populations
- GOI was declared National Aquatic Animal in 2009.
=> Threats: Habitat degradation via pollution, construction etc. Accidental deaths via entanglement in the nets (bycatch), Poaching.
=> Conservation Status: Endangered (IUCN), Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Appendix I of CITES
Steps Taken:
=> Project Dolphin: Conservation of dolphins & aquatic habitat through the use of technology (Pollution reduction & sustainable fishery).
=> National Dolphin Day: October 5th has been designated as National Dolphin Day to be celebrated every year to create awareness for conservation of Dolphins.
=> Dolphin Sanctuary: Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) (Bihar)
=> Conservation Action Plan for Dolphins: By the Wildlife Institute of India launched in 2016.