Wildlife Week inspires new hope for conservation

Dr Jyotismita Das & Ms Tonmoyee Bhuyan

(Nagaon University)

River Dolphins in Focus

Wildlife Week 2026 in India is celebrated from October 2 to October 8,
with this year’s theme focusing on ‘Connecting Habitats, Thriving Wildlife,’ which turns the nation’s attention to India’s extraordinary natural heritage. Assam has a special story to tell. It is written not only in its forests and wetlands but also in the flowing waters of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, and its quiet protagonist is the Gangetic River dolphin, Platanista gangetica, locally known as Xihu. The Gangetic River dolphin, which is both the national aquatic animal and the state aquatic animal of Assam, is a Schedule-1 species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and is also considered “endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). While dolphins once thrived in Assam, across the Brahmaputra and its tributaries like Kulsi and Subansiri, the species is currently struggling. The Brahmaputra, with its shifting channels, sandbars, wetlands and tributaries, provides vital habitat to the dolphin. The Kulsi has drawn particular attention from researchers because of its dolphins and the close bond between riverine communities and the water. In eastern Assam, the Dibru-Saikhowa region shows why conservation cannot be confined to isolated protected areas, as the Brahmaputra and Dibru systems support diverse aquatic and wetland wildlife along with the wider landscape around Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, and Majuli.   Last year, a report published by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) confirmed that the Brahmaputra river system remains a major stronghold for the Gangetic River dolphins, harbouring 30% of the world’s population.

Kulsi and Subansiri also harbour a significant population (https://india.mongabay.com). The Wildlife Institute of India’s first comprehensive survey (2021-23) estimated 6,324 Gangetic dolphins, within a range of 5,977 to 6,688. Uttar Pradesh holds 2,397 and Bihar 2,220, followed by West Bengal with 815 and Assam with 635. Assam thus shelters roughly one in ten of the country’s dolphins: 584 in the Brahmaputra mainstream and 51 in its tributaries (jalshakti dowr.gov.in). In the Northeast, the foundation of dolphin science was laid by Dr Abdul Wakid, whose early 2000s research and subsequent 2005 Aaranyak valley-wide survey estimated 250 dolphins in the Brahmaputra system (growing to 265 by 2008), paving the way for the 635 dolphins recorded in Assam today. Crucial contributions also came from Dr Wakid’s collaborator, Dr Gill Braulik, who identified sand mining as the gravest hazard to dolphins on the Kulsi River and later led the landmark research establishing that the Ganges and Indus dolphins are completely separate species (https://www.researchgate.net). In December 2024, the Wildlife Institute of India, with the Assam Forest Department and Aaranyak, tagged a Ganges River dolphin in Assam for the first time anywhere. It was a 32-kg sub-adult in the Kulsi, and the tag will show how dolphins use disturbed rivers. The 2011 survey by North Lakhimpur College accurately recorded 27 Gangetic River dolphins in the Subansiri River.

Local conservationist Jugal Borah, who closely monitors the population, previously noted that the stable habitat had allowed numbers to rise above 40. Government and NGOs in action. The state of Assam declared the Xihu (Gangetic River dolphin) as its state aquatic animal on June 5, 2008. Aaranyak’s Dolphin Conservation Network began in 2008, and its “Dolphin Yatra” research-cum-education boat was the first of its kind in India. An IUCN-supported project later strengthened community monitoring in 30 priority habitats. Nationally, Project Dolphin, launched on 15 August 2020, backs research, habitat protection and community participation, with Assam central to its survey and tagging.

Is it working, and what lies ahead? The signs are encouraging. The mainstream population is stable, and villagers around the Kulsi now believe that harming a dolphin would hurt their families. Satellite tagging is planned to expand to other states, and the data will also help shape a long-term conservation action plan. Project Dolphin also envisages joint forest-fisheries protection and trained rescue responders. Unregulated fishing, accidental entanglement, declining fish stocks, pollution, vessel movement, sand extraction, bank modification and changes in river flow can all affect dolphins, which in the lean season are confined to deeper pools and channels. This is why fishing communities are at the centre of the story. In areas where livelihoods depend on the river, aligning conservation efforts with the security of those livelihoods is essential. Fishers can be partners, observers and guardians whose knowledge of seasons, fish movements, deep pools and sightings complements scientific surveys. Nets, responsible fishing, and prompt reporting of injured or entangled dolphins make a practical difference, especially in the Kulsi basin. The state government has initiated efforts to protect the Xihu through legal enforcement, habitat monitoring, and community engagement. The Assam Forest Department prosecutes illegal hunting and poaching by strictly enforcing the highest degree of statutory protection afforded under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Working alongside central entities like the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the state conducts standardized population surveys and monitors river health. This includes advanced efforts such as the first-ever satellite tracking of dolphins in the Brahmaputra River and its critical tributaries like the Kulsi and Subansiri (https://www.pib .gov.in). The government collaborates with local conservation organizations like Aaranyak to operate grassroots protection grids, run community education campaigns (e.g., Dolphin Yatra), and introduce alternative fishing gear to prevent accidental entanglements.

Dolphins cannot survive in isolation from fish, wetlands, tributaries and adequate flow, so protecting them means protecting the processes that sustain the river itself. A dolphin surfaces for barely 1.26 seconds and dives for about 107 seconds, which is why counting them requires underwater microphones as well as boats. Only three Indus River dolphins, its close relative, were found in India, all in the Beas. With science, state and community moving together, the Xihu has a reason for hope. If the dolphin surfaces for only a second at a time, it is our responsibility to notice and ensure that the river remains valuable for its survival.

(Source: http://share.google/uNW1nDh5AjnnLiob www. indiatoday.in)