Dolphin protected areas must be established if the Ganges River dolphin is to survive in the Brahmaputra river system, new research indicates. The study was prompted by the need for accurate dolphin population data after Oil India Ltd. proposed to start prospecting for oil along the bed of the Brahmaputra River using air guns and explosives.
Such prospecting "has potentially disastrous implications for Ganges River dolphins," the report concludes.Estimates have put the total population of the Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, at around 2,000. Between 240 to 300 of these inhabit the Brahmaputra River system in India, according to the survey prepared for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Sir Peter Scott Fund.
Such prospecting "has potentially disastrous implications for Ganges River dolphins," the report concludes.Estimates have put the total population of the Ganges River dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, at around 2,000. Between 240 to 300 of these inhabit the Brahmaputra River system in India, according to the survey prepared for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Sir Peter Scott Fund.
