Table of Contents
Which one of the following is the national aquatic animal of India?
a) Saltwater crocodile
b) Olive ridley turtle
c) Gangetic dolphin
d) Gharial
- Census report of Madhya Pradesh forest department was released recently.
- There are just 68 dolphins left in 435-kilometre-long Chambal river sanctuary which passes through three states (Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan)
- According to the census report, dolphins’ number in Chambal river has been reduced by 13% in four years.
- The decreasing trend is continuing from 2016 when there were 78 dolphins.
Chambal River Sanctuary
- For the protection of-
- Critically Endangered gharial,
- Red-crowned roof turtle and
- Ganges river dolphin
- In 1979 the National Chambal Sanctuary was set up.
- The sanctuary is 435 km long, and 2-6 km wide.
- It is a place where eco-tourism is widely practiced.
Why the number is declining?
- In 2006, the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) ordered a ban on mining in the sanctuary area to save the flora and fauna of the river.
- But illegal sand mining and consumption of water is so rampant that it is putting the whole ecosystem of the river in danger
- Principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), wildlife, SK Mandal said,
- “The decrease in number of dolphins is a matter of concern but Chambal is a lifeline for three states and the locals of MP, UP and Rajasthan are withdrawing water daily.
- Similarly, illegal sand mining is rampant in Bhind and Morena in MP and Dholpur in Rajasthan.
- Forest teams face so many life threatening attacks while taking actions against illegal sand mafia.”
Dolphins in Chambal river
- The dolphins were spotted for the first time in 1985 in Chambal river near Etawah.
- That time, the number was more than 110 but poaching reduced the number.
- Now poaching is not at all a problem but unfavourable habitat is.
carrying capacity of dolphins in Chambal
- The maximum carrying capacity of dolphins in Chambal is 125.
- The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained in that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available.
- The Ganges river dolphin was officially discovered in 1801.
- Ganges river dolphins once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
- But the species is extinct from most of its early distribution ranges.
- The Ganges river dolphin can only live in freshwater and is essentially blind.
- They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounces off of fish and other prey.
- They are frequently found alone or in small groups, and generally a mother and calf travel together.
- Where is India’s first & only dolphins sanctuary?
- Which dolphin is found at Odisha’s coast?
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