Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The dolphin conservation in Assam made a stride forward today with the first-ever and successful geo-tagging of Ganges River dolphins in the state to keep track of the movement of this endangered national aquatic animal so as to conduct the related studies.
Speaking on this development, Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav said, “Happy to share the news of the first-ever tagging of Ganges River Dolphin in Assam—a historic milestone for the species and India! This MoEFCC and National CAMPA-funded project, led by the Wildlife Institute of India (@wii_india), in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and Aaranyak, will deepen our understanding of conserving our National Aquatic Animal.”
Commenting on the development, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “It’s a historic initiative to protect river dolphins. Gangetic dolphins are the pride of Assam’s riverine ecosystem. Today we began a monumental effort to ensure their preservation by beginning the first-ever satellite geo-tagging on this mammal. A 32-kg sub-adult dolphin was geo-tagged at the Kulsi River today. This will help us to track their movements and attempts to poach them.”
The Kulsi River in the Kamrup district is one of the habitats for river dolphins in Assam. The Assam government also declared the Gangetic River Dolphin as the aquatic animal of the state.
According to sources, several Gangetic River Dolphins were either poached by miscreants or killed accidentally in the Kulsi River system during the past few years. The state forest department has failed to curb the continuous unnatural deaths of river dolphins in the Kulsi River.
The stretch from Kulsi to Kukurmara almost dries up for about six to seven months a year, turning the situation unfavourable for river dolphins to survive. Illegal activities like extracting sand from the riverbed, water contamination due to the release of industrial waste, etc., have posed a threat to river dolphins in the Kulsi.
Also Read: Carcass of Gangetic river dolphin found in Kulsi at Kukurmara
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