Government today notified its order declaring the endangered Ganges river dolphin as national aquatic animal.
Recognised as "highly endangered" in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), the dolphins are found in Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
The government had last year declared sub-species of dolphin as the national aquatic animal and the notification would give the order an executive stamp.
Announcing this, environment minister Jairam Ramesh, said "by giving the sub-species the national aquatic animal status, we hope to raise public awareness and support, especially among the younger generation, for its conservation and protection".
Pollution in the river and poaching are taking a toll on the animal, whose count has declined to 2,000 in the country.
Recently, four Ganges dolphins were killed by suspected poachers on the banks of the Ganga in Bihar. An autopsy revealed that the dolphins were trapped and beaten to death as they bore several marks on head.
The Ganges dolphin is among the four "obligate" freshwater dolphins found in the world the other three are the 'baiji' found in the Yangtze River (China), the "bhulan" of the Indus (Pakistan) and the "boto" of the Amazon River (Latin America), a senior environment official said.
Although there are several species of marine dolphins whose ranges include some freshwater habitats, these four species live only in rivers and lakes.
The Chinese River Dolphin was declared functionally extinct by a team of international scientists in 2006. In India, the Ganges river dolphin is threatened by river water pollution and siltation, accidental entanglement in fishing nets and poaching for their oil.
In addition, alterations to the rivers in the form of barrages and dams are separating populations. Various organisations, including the WWF-India in Uttar Pradesh, have initiated programmes for conservation and re-introduction of the river dolphin.
