NEW DELHI: In a first-ever such move of satellite tagging of any species in India, scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) on Wednesday tagged a male Ganges River Dolphin and released it in the Brahamputra river in Kamrup district in Assam for gathering critical information about the country’s national aquatic animal.
The step will be used for their conservation as the technology will help in understanding the seasonal and migratory patterns, range, distribution, and habitat utilisation of this endangered species in India.
Calling it a “historic milestone”, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said the first-ever tagging of Ganges River Dolphin will “deepen our understanding of conserving our National Aquatic Animal.”
According to WWF, the population of Ganges River Dolphin, once present in tens of thousands of numbers, has dwindled abysmally to less than 2,000 during the last century owing to direct killing, habitat fragmentation by dams and barrages and indiscriminate fishing.
Approximately 90% of the species’ population resides in India, historically distributed across the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli river systems. Despite its wide range, significant knowledge gaps remain due to its elusive behavior. It surfaces for only 5-30 seconds at a time, posing a significant challenge in understanding the ecological needs of the species and for any scientifically sound conservation interventions.
“Tagging is a significant advancement in understanding the ecological needs of river dolphins, which will help conserve critical habitats within these vast river ecosystems. This is vital not only for aquatic biodiversity but also for sustaining thousands of people who depend on these resources,” said Vishnupriya Kolipakam, project investigator, WII.
She said plans were underway to extend this initiative to other states inhabited by Ganges River Dolphins to build a comprehensive understanding of their population dynamics and habitat requirements.
“Tagging river dolphins will contribute to evidence-based conservation strategies that are urgently needed for this species,” said Virendra R Tiwari, director, WII.
“The tagging was made possible by advancements in technology. The lightweight tags emit signals compatible with Argos satellite systems even with limited surfacing time and are designed to minimise interference with dolphin movement,” said the note released by the WII on the move.
The tagging exercise was done under the umbrella of Project Dolphin. It was funded by the environment ministry through National CAMPA authority and implemented by the WII in collaboration with the Assam forest department and Aaranyak, an NGO, to fill existing knowledge gaps for the long-term conservation of the species.
WWF-India has identified habitats of Ganges River Dolphins in nine stretches in eight rivers as ideal for their population. These include: Upper Ganga river (Brijghat to Narora) in Uttar Pradesh; Chambal river (up to 10 km downstream of Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary) in Madhya Pradesh and UP; Ghagra and Gandak rivers in UP and Bihar; Ganga river, from Varanasi to Patna in UP and Bihar respectively; Son and Kosi rivers in Bihar; Brahmaputra river from Sadia (foothills of Arunachal Pradesh) upto the Dhubri (Bangladesh Border) and Kulsi River a tributary of Brahmaputra.
