Carcass of Gangetic river dolphin found in Kulsi at Kukurmara

PALASBARI: The carcass of a subadult Gangetic river dolphin was recovered on Wednesday morning at the Kulsi River near Kukurmara by the villagers.

The villagers informed the Kulsi Forest Range Office immediately, and subsequently, a team of forest personnel recovered the carcass of the sub-adult Gangetic river dolphin.

Sources said that several injury marks have been noticed on the carcass of the river dolphin. It is believed that the Gangetic River dolphin might have been poached by miscreants about 2–3 days ago.

It may be mentioned here that the Gangetic River dolphin is an endangered mammal under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, and its population has been dwindling day by day.

Observing that the species could become extinct in the near future, the Central Government has declared the Gangetic River dolphin a national aquatic animal, stressing the urgent need for its conservation. The Assam government has also declared the Gangetic River dolphin as the aquatic animal of Assam.

Sources said that several Gangetic river dolphins have been either poached by miscreants or killed accidentally in the Kulsi river systems during the past few years and that the Forest Department has failed to curb the continuous unnatural death of the Gangetic river dolphin in the Kulsi river. It may be mentioned here that the Kulsi River was once reported to have the thickest population of Gangetic river dolphins, but now that pride has gone.

It is reported that a major segment of the river (Kulsi) from Kulsi to Kukurmara used to remain dried for almost 7-8 months each year, and Gangetic river dolphins have almost nowhere to live in the river.

Sources said that during the monsoon, some dolphins are sighted in the river due to migration of the species from other low-lying areas or from the Brahmaputra, but dolphins used to become targets of the poachers or were killed accidentally.

It is reported that the natural environment of the Kulsi River has been polluted due to indiscriminate sand mining and contamination of water through industrial waste, and that the bed of the river has also come up due to less rainfall upstream.

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