Protecting dolphins

the Bihar government has adopted a two-fold strategy to protect the Gangetic dolphins ( Platanista gangetica ). The strategy includes educating fisherfolk and other people on the need to protect dolphins and directing the districts bordering the Ganga to strictly enforce the laws. The decision comes in the wake of a directive given by the Patna high court to protect the endangered species (see, 'Saving dolphins', Down To Earth, Vol 10, No 1, May 31, 2001). The court passed the order in response to a petition against large-scale killing of dolphins. Studies by the World Wide Fund for Nature show that the dolphin population in the Ganga is declining rapidly with only about 2,500 left. The mammal is threatened by rapid deterioration of their habitat, construction of dams, fishing, river pollution and killing by fisherfolk. Despite being included as a Schedule I species way back when the Wildlife (Protection) Act was formulated in 1972, it was only in 1991 that the government for the first time created a sanctuary for them in the Ganga between Sultanganj and Kanalgaon in Bihar.