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Southern Resident whales

Ambitious plan to free captive orca Lolita announced

The new owner of the Miami Seaquarium in the US has announced that it is...
Gray whale

UN adopts High Seas Treaty to protect the ocean

At the UN 'High Seas Treaty' negotiations in New York, a historic vote for the...

Hopes raised for whale and dolphin protection after last minute landmark nature agreement

WDC's Ed Goodall (far right) at COP15 with Thérèse Coffey (centre) UK Secretary of State...

WDC orca champion picks up award

Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation...

Sanctuary Brings Hope For Freshwater Dolphins In Asia

The Government of Bangladesh has recently declared three new wildlife sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins in the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem – the Sundarbans.

The sanctuaries, which were officially declared on January 29, will protect the last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia; the Ganges River dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin. Although there is no global population estimate for either species, both have been in decline. But, they occur in the Sundarbans in sufficient numbers, and so the sanctuary may serve to prevent their extinction. The dolphins are under threat from entanglements in fishing nets used by local fishermen and also reduced prey to feed on. News of the declared sanctuaries is particularly welcome following the recent extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin whose last confirmed sighting was in 2002. Similar threats killed off this species after having survived in the Yangtze River of China for more than 10 million years.

For more information on our protected areas and sanctuaries campaign click here