Illegal fishing threatens the Irrawaddy dolphins. PIC COURTESY OF DAN KOEHL
By New Straits Times - December 16, 2019 @ 2:00pm
PHNOM PENH: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Cambodia has seen the births of 13 Irrawaddy dolphins in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces so far this year.
It said its research team spotted the latest calf during an expedition to the Kampi dolphin pool in Kratie’s Sambok Village.
According to reports in the Khmer Times, the calf was the 13th to be recorded from January to December this year.
“Six were recorded in Stung Treng and seven in Kratie. There are more than 100 dolphins in Cambodia,” said the WWF.
Chetr Borei district police chief of joint staff Captain Pav Kimhort said his forces worked with the WWF and fishery administration officials to patrol dolphin habitats.
He said some people in the area did not understand the importance of dolphins in the Mekong River.
“Illegal fishing is often committed and it threatens the lives of dolphins,” he said.
He said people in communities must help protect dolphins so they are no longer endangered, noting many tourists come to see them.
Eng Cheasan, director-general of the local fisheries administration, recently said a dozen dolphins were born in 2015, 11 in 2016, nine in 2017 and another nine last year.
The Irrawaddy dolphin is
a red-listed species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its rarity.
The existence of these dolphins in the kingdom is undermined by illegal fishing and the construction of hydropower dams across the Mekong River.
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