K-P’s dolphins may be rare and ‘blind’ but they can sense trouble when it comes

PESHAWAR:

What’s pink and grey and doesn’t like construction in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa? Answer: The Indus blind dolphin.

The construction refers to the barrages and dams that have been built over the decades. The endangered species doesn’t like them for two reasons: the noise and disruption in water levels. “Dolphins are very sensitive mammals,” explains Dr Ziaur Rahman a lecturer at the Postgraduate College Bannu. “Their [sonar or] echolocation system is strong and fast compared to that of all other animals on land and in water.” Thus, it is small wonder that drilling and noise can frighten them. Zoologist Dr Farzana Perveen of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University in Shringal puts it plainly: “Even we as human beings are disturbed by construction, naturally they will be too.”

According to Rahman, as a result of the construction of barrages the species was squeezed into a 200km stretch. Indeed, across the country it is estimated that their range has shrunk to one-fifth of what it used to occupy, a terrible constriction for a mammal that Rahman stresses “loves to move freely in vast areas”.

The dolphin is usually associated with Sindh. (In fact, two conservationists who work in the province, Tahir Qureshi and Nasir Panhwar, both expressed surprise when told about the K-P presence of the mammal). But it is also found in small numbers near Dera Ismail Khan, which was the focus of Rahman’s recent research.



He went to DI Khan in March, one of the more favourable times to get a closer look. “I spent a whole week in a boat with [GPS] instruments,” he said, crediting the Bannu wildlife department for help. He even rowed 135km downstream to collect data. “Spotting a dolphin for the first time [is beyond words].” He found that the area’s people knew about the ‘fish’ but didn’t know that it was a dolphin.

Between Saggu and Ramak, a stretch of about 103km, Rahman spotted 35 dolphins in relatively shallow waters. This is a drop from the 54 counted five years ago in the same portion of the river which has been affected by five dams and barrages. Anyone who wants to spot the dolphins should go to the stretch between Miran and Ramak very close to the Taunsa barrage where Rahman counted 17, the highest concentration.

It is a measure of extinction that about 130 years ago, the dolphin was found along the entire 3,400km stretch of the Indus and its tributaries. Years later, construction, fishermen with motor boats and duck and crane hunters have taken their toll. Some nomads even disclosed that their forefathers caught them to extract oil to fry sweets and pakoras.

According to Rahman, the dangers to this species are most clear. They are killed for their meat and oil that is used as an aphrodisiac. Industrial effluent and other forms of contamination have also reduced their numbers and the 2010 floods almost pushed this species towards extinction. The only good news is that their numbers have gone up about 5% in Sindh because of better conservation efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2012.