Gangetic River Dolphin

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  Gangetic River Dolphin

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• Sensational incident: It emerded on social media that a Gangetic Dolphin was beaten to death in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Killing the Gangetic River Dolphin is a punishable offence under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It enraged many, and brought the issue to limelight.
• Points to note: 
• The scientific name is Platanista gangetica. The Ganges River Dolphin was officially discovered in 1801. It lives in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. It can only live in freshwater and is essentially blind. It hunts by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounces off of fish and other prey, enabling them to “see” an image in their mind. It is also called ‘susu’. Population of Gangetic river Dolphin is 1200-1800.
• It is a reliable indicator of the health of the entire river ecosystem. It was recognised as the National Aquatic Animal in 2009, by the Government of India.
• It is facing many threats.

1. Bycatch: These dolphins and people both favour areas of the river where fish are plentiful and the water current is slower. This has led to fewer fish for people and more dolphins dying as a result of accidentally being caught in fishing nets, also known as bycatch. 
2. Pollution: Industrial, agricultural, and human pollution is another serious cause of habitat degradation. 
3. Dams: Construction of dams and other irrigation-related projects make them susceptible to inbreeding and more vulnerable to other threats because they cannot move to new areas. Dolphins below a dam are threatened by heavy pollution, increased fishing activities and vessel traffic. They also have less food because dams disturb the migration, breeding cycles and habitat of fish and other prey.

• Conservation Status: 

1. Indian Wildlife (Protection), Act 1972: Schedule I.
2. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Endangered.
3. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): Appendix I (most endangered).
4. Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix II (migratory species that need conservation and management or would significantly benefit from international co-operation).

• Steps taken: 

1. Project Dolphin: The Prime Minister announced the government’s plan to launch a Project Dolphin in his Independence Day Speech 2020. It will be on the lines of Project Tiger, which has helped increase the tiger population.
2. Dolphin Sanctuary: Vikramshila Ganges Dolphin Sanctuary has been established in Bihar.
3. Conservation Plan: The Conservation Action Plan for the Ganges River Dolphin 2010-2020, which “identified threats to Gangetic Dolphins and impact of river traffic, irrigation canals and depletion of prey-base on Dolphins populations”. 
4. National Ganga River Dolphin Day: The National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrates 5th October as National Ganga River Dolphin Day.

• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: This Act provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds, and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security. Among other things, the Act lays down restrictions on hunting many animal species. The Act was last amended in the year 2006. The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of flora and fauna. Schedule I and Schedule II get absolute protection, and offences under these schedules attract the maximum penalties. Schedule 5 includes species that may be hunted.
• Related constitutional provisions: 

1. Article 48A - It directs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard wildlife and forests. This Article was added to the Constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976.
2. Article 51A - Article 51A imposes certain fundamental duties for the people of India. One of them is to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.

• Knowledge centre:

1. Dolphins versus Sharks - Sharks are fish while dolphins are mammals (like humans). Dolphins, and other mammals, are warm blooded, give birth to live young, nurse their young, are born with hair, and breathe air. Sharks, like other fish, have gills to remove oxygen from the environment, are cold blooded, and have scales. Sharks are known as cartilaginous fish, meaning their skeletons are made of cartilage (like our ears and noses) rather than dense bone. Sharks are part of the elasmobranch family, which includes sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish, while dolphins are part of the cetacean family, which includes toothed and baleen whales, as well as porpoises. Dolphins are known to travel in groups called pods, and are known to be vocal and quite socials. Sharks on the other hand are more solitary and cannot vocalize, however research on shark social behavior is not as well studied as with dolphins. 
2. Aquatic mammals - Mammals are primarily terrestrial animals. However, some of them have adopted an aquatic mode of life. The aquatic mammals have evolved from terrestrial mammals. The fact that all of them are not gill-breathers but breathe air through lungs, indicate their original terrestrial mode of life. All the aquatic mammals are really terrestrial lung-breathing forms which have reverted to an aquatic life, and they have done so with remarkable success, the whales being the most successful. They have reverted to water probably because of extreme competition on land for food and shelter. Aquatic mammals are divided into - (1) Amphibious Mammals - These do not live permanently in water. They live on land but go into water for food and shelter. They show only partial aquatic adaptations such as small external ears, webbed feet, flattened nails, etc. Examples include beaver (Castor), musk rat (Ondatra), nutria (Myocaster), otter (Lutra), mink (Mustela) and many others; (2) Aquatic Mammals - These spend most of the time in water and usually come to land for reproduction. The typical examples are seals and hippopotamus; and (3) Marine Mammals - These never come to land and are perfectly at home in water. The typical examples are whales. The adaptations of truly aquatic mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) are divided into 3 major categories - (i) Modifications of original structures, (ii) Loss of structures, and (iii) Development of new structures.

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