A Fourth New-Born Dolphin Spotted in the Kampi Conservation Pool of Kratie Province
The baby dolphin was spotted swimming in Kampi Pool on June 15. Photo: The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
- By Meng Seavmey
- June 17, 2023 12:11 PM
PHNOM PENH – One baby dolphin was spotted swimming with five adult dolphins on June 15 in the Anlong Kampi pool in Kratie province. The newborn was the fourth baby dolphin to have been found in 2023.
According to a news release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) on June 15, the dolphin was only five days old when it was photographed at the Kampi Pool, which is located in Kampi Village, in Chet Borei District’s Sambok Commune.
As the ministry explained, the baby dolphin was spotted by a team of the ministry and the World Wild Fund (WWF). “The research team are conducting photo identification surveys along the Mekong habitats in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces in order to monitor the dolphins’ situation and estimate their population number for 2023.”
After identifying the baby dolphin, WWF on June 15 said on its Facebook page, “WFF congratulates the joint efforts of the Fisheries Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and WWF for this important newborn calf record.”
In 2021, the working group had identified six baby dolphins. In 2022 six baby dolphins had also been identified, however 11 dolphins had been found dead that year.
Classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, 89 dolphins were living in Cambodia’s section of the Mekong River in 2020, compared to 92 in 2017.
A new dolphin population tally is to be carried out by October 2023 by WWF and the MAFF’s Fisheries Administration.
