There's good news in the dolphin world--three new wildlife sanctuaries have been declared by the government of Bangladesh, with the hopes that they will help to prevent the extinction of the Irrawaddy and Ganges river dolphins, which are both threatened species. Apparently the Yangzte dolphin is already believed to be (native to this area), so leaders are hoping that these sanctuaries will help to protect the remaining two species for a similar fate. These sanctuaries will cover a total of 11 square kilometers, which includes 31 kilometres of channels. The size and location of the sanctuaries was determined using scientific findings from a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Bangladesh Forest Department. Currently, there are no numbers of exactly how many of the Irrawaddy and Ganges river dolphins there are. They are being considered as on the decline because they have started to disappear in many of their original habitats. Contributing factors are believed to be depletion of their natural prey as well as being tangled in fishing lines.
This is what the director of WCS's Asian Freshwater and Coastal Cetacean Program, Brian D. Smith, has to say about the issue: "Declaration of these Wildlife Sanctuaries is an essential first step in protecting Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins in Bangladesh. As biological indicators of ecosystem-level impacts, freshwater dolphins can inform adaptive human-wildlife management to cope with climate change, suggesting a broader potential for conservation and sustainable development.
With these sanctuaries, they are hoping to protect other species as well.
http://blog.arkive.org/2012/02/new-sanctuaries-to-help-threatened-dolphins/
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