Daily Times

KARACHI: A joint team of World Wildlife Fund Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) and Sindh Wildlife Department, with support of local community, safely rescued and released two stranded adult female Indus River dolphins on Thursday in the Indus River.

One dolphin was about 7.6 feet long and weighed 110kg and the other one was 7.2 feet long and weighed around 102kg, according to WWF-Pakistan Spokesperson Asif Ali Sandeelo.

“These dolphins were rescued from the Kirthar Canal near City Point Sukkur,” said Sandeelo, adding that these dolphins moved to Kirthar Canal in September 2017 and were being monitored by the Sindh Wildlife Department and WWF-Pakistan since then to ensure their timely rescue in case if they get stranded in the shallow water bodies adjacent to the canal. The rescue team carefully translocated the rescued dolphins in a soundproof ambulance and released them in the main Indus River near Sukkur Barrage upstream. WWF-Pakistan Programmes Senior Director Rab Nawaz appreciated the Sindh Wildlife and community’s role in the successful rescue of the dolphins. According to him, WWF-Pakistan believed in empowering community’s stewardship to conserve endangered species like the Indus River dolphins. He shed light on a few aspects of WWF-Pakistan’s long-term community engagement and awareness programme implemented as part of the Indus River Conservation Initiative in collaboration with Sindh Wildlife Department which had helped to enhance to conservation of the species and decreased fishing induced mortalities. WWF-Pakistan has also set up a 24-hour phone helpline (071 561 5505) which had been instrumental in further strengthening the existing dolphin rescue programme.

Stranding in low waters is a constant threat which this endangered species faces. Stranding usually occurs during the period of canal closures when flood gates are closed, resulting in a drop in water level. Furthermore, intensive fishing in the core dolphin habitat is another threat which increases the probability of dolphins getting entangled in fishing nets, making it critical to continuously monitor the Indus River and adjacent canals. The Indus dolphin rescue programme, therefore, has been an integral component of WWF-Pakistan’s conservation work for this species and is a continuous activity being carried out in collaboration with the Sindh Wildlife Department. WWF-Pakistan has also organised capacity building workshops and training sessions for Sindh Wildlife Department officials for the safe rescue and release of stranded Indus River dolphins.

The Indus River dolphin is an endangered freshwater cetacean and is only found in the Indus River in Pakistan. It is also a WWF priority species. The Indus River dolphin population is highly fragmented due to the construction of water regulatory barrages with the largest population concentrated between Guddu and Sukkur barrages, a legally protected area known as the Indus Dolphin Game Reserve.

Published in Daily Times, November 17^th 2017.