One Baby Irrawaddy Dolphin Found in Kratie Province
One newborn Irrawaddy dolphin was spotted on Mar. 25 in Kratie province. Photo: Ministry of Agriculture
- By Chhum Chantha
- March 26, 2024 6:15 PM
PHNOM PENH – One newborn Irrawaddy dolphin was spotted on Mar. 25 in Kratie province, marking the sixth new dolphin found alive since the start of 2024.
The Irrawaddy dolphin was seen in Koh Pdao village, Kampong Cham commune, Sambo district by the research group of the Fisheries Administration and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
In 2023, eight newborn dolphins were recorded while five were found dead. Those five included two baby dolphins and three adult dolphins including one who died of particularly old.
According to the WWF, there were a total of 28 newborn dolphins spotted and 34 found dead in the past four years. The year 2022 saw the sad record of 11 dolphin deaths for only 6 recorded births.
According to a population census published in 2020, only 89 dolphins were living in Cambodia’s section of the Mekong River. When the river level drops during the dry season – from January to May – dolphins congregate in eight underwater canyons along the Mekong River, a 180 km long stretch from Kratie to the Lao border in Stung Treng province.
The Irrawaddy dolphin or Orcaella brevirostris is one of the six species of freshwater dolphins in the world.
The species is classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
This species is primarily found in three river systems in the world including the Mekong River in Cambodia, the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar, and the Mahakam River in Indonesia.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Rin Ousa for Cambodianess.
