First increase in Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphins in 20 years

Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River could be making a comeback. After more than two decades of steady decline, numbers of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) in the Mekong River have risen from 80 in 2015 to 92 in 2017, according to a joint announcement by the Cambodian government and WWF-Cambodia. This slight population increase brings hope for the species, Teak Seng, country director of WWF-Cambodia, told Mongabay. “And because the dolphin population is a key indicator of the health of the river, it means hope for the river itself and the millions of people who rely on it,” Seng said. “Moreover, it means that we have been taking the right approach to protect this natural living treasure of Cambodia.” Mekong River landscape. Image by WWF-Cambodia. In the Mekong River, the Irrawaddy dolphins are known to range within a 190-kilometer (118-mile) stretch from Kratie in Cambodia to the slightly upstream Khone Falls complex in Laos. In 1997, researchers estimated that dolphin numbers within this stretch was no more than 200 individuals. This figure fell to 80 dolphins in a survey carried out in 2015. Over the past two years, however, dolphin numbers seem to be on the rise. In the most recent survey conducted in 2017, WWF researchers looked for dolphins in boats, moving slowly in a zig-zag pattern, from bank to bank to cover most of the river’s surface area, Seng said. Whenever the researchers spotted dolphins, they stopped the boat, then spent about 30 to 120 minutes observing and photographing…

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