A beauty of Indus River: the Indus dolphin, its protection in Pakistan

ISBN-13: 9783639209259 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 100 str.

Farzana Perveen

Opis

A study was aimed to determine the threats and protection of a beauty of Indus River, Indus River dolphin Platanista minor Owen, throughout its range in N-WFP. A survey was conducted in an area of 103.5 km including Indus and its tributaries in March 2007. The best group size was estimated an abundance of 54 dolphins. Approximately 53.7% (1.07 dolphin/km) of its population occurred in 27 km from Miran onward to Ramak; however, 38.9% (0.46 dolphin/km) in 46 km from D.I.Khan Bridge to Miran, moreover, 7.4% (0.13 dolphin/km) in 30.5 km from Saggu, near Meetapur-village to D.I.Khan Bridge in the Indus. The highest density was found between Miran and Ramk. A pronounced increase in dolphin encounter rate and abundance were observed in a downstream-direction. Threats to dolphins include too much vessel-traffic, duck-hunters, and no effective-conservation. Dolphins are vulnerable to the high levels of anthropogenic activities because of their restricted habitat. Threats vary geographically in their importance, but generally include accidental killing during fishing- operations, habitat-loss and population- fragmentation from water development.

O autorze

Chairperson, Deptt. of Zoology, Hazara University, BSc(Hons); MSc (Zool.: Entomol.); MAS(Nagoya University,Jpn);PhD(Toxicol.: Goldmedalist); Monbusho Scholar, Approved Supervisor of BS/MS/MSc/MPhil/PhD; Author of International Research Papers & Books; Research Interest: Conservation & Wildlife Management, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Genetics