There's something heart-warming about encountering a mother and her young one, especially if that mother and calf belong to a threatened species, with dwindling population. A survey, named the Indus River Dolphin Survey, conducted earlier this month reveals that there are around five to 11 Indus River Dolphins across a 185-km stretch of the Beas river in Punjab.
The first sighting was an adult female with a week-old calf and a sub-adult. A second sighting, eight kilometres away, again, was of an adult female with a week-old calf and a sub-adult. It is very likely that the two sightings were of the same set, which is why the enumerators have pegged the numbler of dolphins on this stretch at a modest five to 11. But since it has been clearly established that there is a breeding population across the stretch, it gives conservationists much hope and reason to cheer for.
"Finding adult males is good, but it does not give any indication about the future of the population. Breeding females and calves show that more members are being added to the population,'' said Suresh Babu, Director, Rivers, wetlands and water policy at the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India), which conducted the census along with the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Punjab. Also, the latest census shows that the population of the animal has remained rather constant in the last 70 years, despite all assaults on its habitat.
The Indus River Dolphin is a sub-species of the Gangetic dolphin, it is believed that the two evolved into separate entities some 30 million years ago. But while the Gangetic Dolphin is India's national aquatic animal and has the attention of the government for conservation and protection, its Indus cousin is rather neglected. It doesn't help that the population of this dolphin is small to start with, and in India, only a small, isolated population is found on one stretch of the Beas river. There are historical accounts of sightings in the Satluj, but none have been seen in recent decades.
"Since the 1800s, the habitat of this animal has shrunk by 80 per cent," said Babu. For instance, upstream the Beas, there are viable habitats, but simply not enough water in the river. "In the Pakistan side, the Indus dolphins are more common, with a recent survey on the main stem of the Indus river alone throwing up a count of 1,800."
Conservationsists feel that the decision of the Punjab government to declare the Beas as a conservation reserve might help the Indus dolphin. The move aimed to reintroduce gharials in the river. Gharials have been extinct in the Beas for three decades. But the Indus river dolphin could also benefit from the efforts.