The River Dolphins of South Asia

River dolphins are descended from marine dolphins and have adapted to life in fresh water, so they are no longer capable of surviving in the sea. This may be their undoing as the waterways in which they occur the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra run through some of the poorest and most densely populated regions on earth.

There are two closely related species of river dolphin in South Asia: the Indus dolphin, locally called the bhulan, and the Ganges dolphin or susu.

The Ganges dolphin has a wider distribution and is in less immediate danger of extinction, with current population estimates of about 5,000. However, both the Indus and the Ganges dolphin are at risk from pollution by pesticides and fertilizers and from agricultural practices on the floodplains. As South Asia develops, industrialization precedes environmental controls on emissions. Untreated effluents are released into rivers creating a highly toxic environment where little can survive.

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