IUCN – SSC Cetacean Specialist Group

South Asian River dolphins

07 Oct 2020

Nuremberg Workshop on Ex-situ Options for Cetacean Conservation and the Launch of ICPC

Nuremberg ESOCC Workshop The extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, in China in 2006, and the recent precipitous decline of the vaquita in Mexico, have highlighted the urgency of gaining information and taking action to anticipate and prevent such rapid declines in other threatened...

26 Nov 2019

Ganges River dolphins strongly alter their acoustic behaviour in response to underwater noise, finds study from India

Article written by Nachiket Kelkar1,2 1Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore, India. 2 Member, IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group. Email: nachiket.kelkar@atree.org The impacts of underwater noise on marine cetaceans are starting to be relatively well understood across the world’s oceans. Noise can trigger responses ranging from...

08 May 2017

Lost Indus dolphins in the Beas River, India

Indus River dolphins (Platanista gangetica minor) inhabit the Indus River system of Pakistan and India. Over the last 150 years, numerous irrigation barrages (gated dams) that divert river water into canals have been constructed in this system. As a result, the range of Indus dolphins...

08 Jun 2016

IUCN Letter to the Indian Minister of Environment – Concern over the impact of India’s National Waterways Act on Ganges River dolphins

In early April attention was drawn to India's National Waterways Act 2016, which calls for massive reconfiguration of the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems into inland waterways to facilitate transport cargo, coal, and industrial raw materials and to support tourism development. Given the serious implications...

01 Mar 2012

Three new wildlife sanctuaries for Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins declared by the Government of Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh recently declared three new wildlife sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins in the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem – the Sundarbans. The sanctuaries, which were officially declared on January 29, will protect two species of freshwater dolphins: the Ganges River dolphin and the...

11 Jan 2012

Increasing Indus River dolphin mortality

The following news article was produced by Uzma Noureen at WWF-Pakistan. For more information she can be contacted at: unoureen@wwf.panda.org The Indus River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica minor) is an endangered subspecies of freshwater dolphin found only in the Indus River System in Pakistan. In 2006 the...

10 Nov 2010

Release of Gangetic Dolphin Conservation Action Plan, India

The Prime Minister of India declared the Gangetic Dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal of India on the 5th October, 2009 and it was formally notified on 10th May, 2010. A Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin was then prepared by a Working...

25 Oct 2010

Dams and River dolphins in the Brahmaputra River

A Letter of Concern was sent from the Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission to the Minister of Environment and Forests in India regarding the potential impacts of five large dams on the Endangered Gangetic dolphins in the Brahmaputra River Basin, India The Gangetic...

South Asian River dolphins

Nuremberg Workshop on Ex-situ Options for Cetacean Conservation and the Launch of ICPC

Ganges River dolphins strongly alter their acoustic behaviour in response to underwater noise, finds study from India

Lost Indus dolphins in the Beas River, India

IUCN Letter to the Indian Minister of Environment – Concern over the impact of India’s National Waterways Act on Ganges River dolphins

Three new wildlife sanctuaries for Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins declared by the Government of Bangladesh

Increasing Indus River dolphin mortality

Release of Gangetic Dolphin Conservation Action Plan, India

Dams and River dolphins in the Brahmaputra River

Vaquitas continue to surprise the world with their tenacity

Vaquitas get action from CITES as totoaba poaching resumes

Good News from the Zero Tolerance Area in late 2022: Less illegal gillnetting and more evidence of vaquita survival

Yet Another Threat to Taiwanese White Dolphins Is Imminent

Update on Cetacean Red List Assessments Published in 2022

Vaquita Update II: Illegal fishing continues with impunity in the area where the last vaquitas survive

Vaquita Update I: A New Totoaba Season Begins with no Assurance that Mexico Will Enforce the Gillnet Fishing Ban to Protect the Vaquita

Death of Mike Donoghue, Longtime Champion of Marine Mammals in South Pacific

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Vaquitas continue to surprise the world with their tenacity

Vaquitas get action from CITES as totoaba poaching resumes

Good News from the Zero Tolerance Area in late 2022: Less illegal gillnetting and more evidence of vaquita survival