Three Ganga dolphins found dead in Patna

PATNA - Suspected poachers killed three Ganga dolphins, an endangered species, on the banks of the Ganga river here, police said Thursday.

The dolphins were found dead near Keshavrai Ghat here.

“Some local people informed forest officials. The dolphins were suspected to have been killed by poachers,” a police official said.

The forest officials have launched investigations to identify the killers and take action against them under the Wildlife Protection Act.

R.K. Sinha, head of Patna University’s zoology department and an expert on Ganga dolphins, said more than a dozen dolphins had been reportedly killed in different parts of Bihar in 2009.

Experts estimate the current numbers of the Ganga dolphins, declared the national aquatic animal early this year, at around 2,000. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that in the 1980s, there were around 3,500 dolphins in the Ganga delta region alone.