Two baby dolphins spotted alongside their mothers in the first-ever scientific survey recently conducted across the 185 km stretch of the river Beas in Punjab have thrilled the conservationists. They say it suggests that the Indus River Dolphins still find Indian waters safe enough to call it home. A blind species that communicates through echo as bats do, Indus River Dolphins are found in Pakistan besides India.
The final estimate of the population of Indus River Dolphins, platanista gangetica minor, in the Beas River stands at 5-11 individuals, as per the survey conducted by the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Punjab in collaboration to the World Wildlife India (WWI).
When compared to Pakistan, which has around 1,500-1,800 dolphins over a stretch of 1,500 km of the Indus River, the population of the species in India is much less, but its presence in the Beas River above the Harike barrage for 70 years, indicates its existence in the region.
Dr Kuldip Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden Punjab, said the presence of a week-old calf and a sub-adult at two spots indicates a breeding population that is large enough to be viable.
During the survey, the first dolphin sighting occurred at the village of Mundapind, which included an adult female with a week-old calf and a sub-adult. A second dolphin sighting occurred at the village of Karmowala (8 kilometres downstream of Mundapind), which again included an adult female with a week-old calf and a sub-adult, indicating breeding populations in the river, said Kumar.
The survey was conducted from May3-6 across the 185 km stretch of the river Beas (Beas Conservation Reserve) from 52 Headworks, Talwara till Harike Nooze point.
However, 55 km of river downstream of 52 Headworks was surveyed by road due to insufficient water in the River Beas while the remaining 130 km was surveyed using motorboats. Direct counts were conducted using tandem boat survey method (using two boats and a team of eight observers and two data recorders), said Suresh Babu, Director-Rivers, Wetlands and Water Policy, WWF-India.
The survey design and execution was led by world renowned Indus Dolphin specialist Dr Gill Braulik, Member of IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group. Now, the Punjab Government and the WWF-India will be preparing an Indus River Dolphin strategy with an implementation roadmap to secure the habitats and conserve the endangered species, said Suresh Babu.
He said decreasing river flow due to extensive damming and drought besides fishing nets are major factors affecting river dolphin populations in the Indian sub-continent. However, as the Punjab Government has declared the 185-km stretch of the Beas River for conservation, we hope that dolphin numbers will increase, Suresh Babu said, while admitting that ensuring water level in the river will remain a challenge.
He said that they were also found in Sutlej decades back, however, river pollution is believed to be a major cause of their extinction from the habitat.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), population size of the Indus river dolphins has reduced by more than 50 per cent since 1944.