Baby Indus dolphin rescued after three-day operation near Sukkur

Rare dolphin found stranded in a small canal 217km away from Sukkur Barrage

KARACHI: A baby Indus dolphin stranded in a small canal about 217 kilometres away from the Sukkur Barrage was finally rescued and released back to its habitat after painstaking rescue operation that lasted for three days.

Officials of the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) posted at the Indus Dolphin Conservation Unit were informed on Thursday that a baby dolphin had been spotted in a canal in Khairpur. The rescue team, led by Sukkur Deputy Conservator Adnan Ahmed Khan, started a search operation but was unable to find the stranded blind dolphin.

Javed Ahmed Mahar, the provincial conservator of the SWD, told The Express Tribune that the operation was halted after sunset on Friday.

“It was a very difficult task to find the baby dolphin,” he said. “Our team almost lost its way despite vigorous search efforts.”

By Friday evening, the rescue team had lost hope of finding the rare mammal alive. However, local villagers informed them that they had found it in a small water course.



“A villager called us to say he had found the dolphin,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “We rushed to the spot and found it surfacing in a waterway barely a foot deep.”

The final step, of getting the dolphin back to its habitat of the Sukkur Barrage, was a challenge for the SWD as well. “It was a nerve-wracking task,” said Mahar, while appreciating the team who performed the task sucessfully.

“There was every possibility of mortality of this little creature endemic to Pakistan.” The rescued dolphin was reportedly transported back to the barrage via a car because the SWD rescue ambulance was broken-down.