{"id":329020,"date":"2025-03-06T19:39:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T14:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=329020"},"modified":"2025-03-07T12:32:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T07:02:47","slug":"indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"India&#8217;s first complete survey finds dolphin threats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: The post India&#8217;s first complete survey finds dolphin threats has been created, based on the article \u201c<strong>What the first-ever comprehensive survey of India&#8217;s river dolphins found<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201c<strong>Indian Express<\/strong>\u201d on 6th March 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-329087 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?resize=658%2C437&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"India\u2019s first complete survey finds dolphin threats\" width=\"658\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?resize=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?resize=1024%2C680&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?resize=768%2C510&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper3- Environment- Conservation<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong>: The article talks about the first complete survey of river dolphins in India. It found 6,324 Gangetic dolphins and only 3 Indus dolphins. The survey showed threats to dolphins from pollution and low water levels, and identified areas with more or fewer dolphins.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What were the main findings of the dolphin population survey in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Total Population<\/strong>: The survey estimated an average of 6,324 Gangetic dolphins, ranging from 5,977 to 6,688, in the Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins. Only 3 Indus dolphins were found, all in the Beas River in Punjab.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State-wise Distribution<\/strong>: Uttar Pradesh had the most Gangetic dolphins (2,397), followed by Bihar (2,220), West Bengal (815), Jharkhand (162), and a combined count of 95 in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.<\/li>\n<li><strong>River-specific Findings<\/strong>: In the Ganga\u2019s main stem, 3,275 dolphins were recorded, 2,414 in its tributaries, 584 in Brahmaputra\u2019s main stem, and 51 in its tributaries.<\/li>\n<li><strong> Hotspots and Coldspots<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hotspot<\/strong>: The <strong>Chausa-Manihar stretch<\/strong> in Bihar had the <strong>highest density<\/strong> with <strong>2.20 dolphins per km<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another dense population was found between <strong>Manihari in Bihar and Rajmahal in Jharkhand<\/strong> with <strong>2.75 dolphins per km<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Coldspot<\/strong>: The <strong>Narora-Kanpur stretch<\/strong> in Uttar Pradesh had an <strong>encounter rate of 0.1 dolphins per km<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>How was the survey conducted and what challenges did it face?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The survey covered 7,109 km of the Ganga and 1,297 km of the Brahmaputra, including tributaries, and 101 km of the Beas River.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Visual and acoustic methods were used to estimate dolphin numbers.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Dolphins surface for 1.26 seconds and dive for 107 seconds, causing observer and availability errors.<\/li>\n<li>Hydrophones captured dolphins&#8217; clicks for accurate counts, overcoming observer errors.<\/li>\n<li>Different methods were used based on channel width and depth, like the double observer method for wide channels.<\/li>\n<li>Challenges included turbid waters, brief surfacing time, and varying river conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What threats do river dolphins face in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Gangetic and Indus dolphins are endangered and protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.<\/li>\n<li>They face threats from pollution, riverbed mining, low water depth, habitat damage, prey decline, and climate change.<\/li>\n<li>Coldspots with few or no dolphins were found in stretches like Narora to Kanpur in the Ganga and in parts of the Yamuna, Sharda, and Rapti rivers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What are the trends in dolphin populations in Assam<\/strong><strong>\u2019<\/strong><strong>s rivers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>In Assam, the main Brahmaputra river has a healthy depth, but its tributaries have low depths, leading to fewer dolphins.<\/li>\n<li>The Barak River was a coldspot. The dolphin population in Subansiri and Kulsi rivers is declining, showing a worrying trend for these habitats.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Discuss the effectiveness of the methods used in the first complete survey of river dolphins in India and the implications of their findings for conservation efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post India&#8217;s first complete survey finds dolphin threats has been created, based on the article \u201cWhat the first-ever comprehensive survey of India&#8217;s river dolphins found\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 6th March 2025. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper3- Environment- Conservation Context: The article talks about the first complete survey of river dolphins in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">India&#8217;s first complete survey finds dolphin threats<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":329087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[59,216,10500],"class_list":["post-329020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-environment","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Indias-first-complete-survey-finds-dolphin-threats.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}