Stranded dolphin rescued in Larkana, released into river

The 42-inch-long female dolphin was stranded in a tributary of Larkana’s Warah Canal

KARACHI: An Indus river dolphin was rescued in Larkana and released into safer waters by a joint team of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan and the Sindh Wildlife Department.

Residents spotted the 42-inch-long female dolphin stranded in Wassand Wah, a tributary of Larkana’s Warah Canal. Realising the urgency of relocating the animal to deeper water, they promptly shifted her to a nearby fish pond and then informed the wildlife authorities, according to a press release issued on Friday.

The rescue teams arrived and carried the dolphin in a sound proof ambulance to release her into the Indus River at Sukkur Barrage upstream.



WWF-Pakistan Senior Director of Programmes Rab Nawaz appreciated the community’s efforts to rescue the dolphin.

“The WWF-Pakistan believes in empowering community stewardship to conserve endangered species like the Indus river dolphin,” he said.

Nawaz said long-term community outreach and awareness programmes implemented as part of the Indus River Conservation Initiative had been instrumental in rescuing more than 140 stranded dolphins since 1992.

The Indus river dolphin is an endangered freshwater cetacean only found in the Indus River in Pakistan. It is also a WWF priority species. The largest population of the species is concentrated between Guddu and Sukkur barrages, a legally protected area known as the Indus Dolphin Game Reserve.