Irrawaddy dolphins continue to decline

The Indo-West Pacific Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) inhabits coastal areas and rivers in South and Southeast Asia. The global population, listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has declined by 50% over the past two decades (1) and recently became locally extinct in Vietnam’s Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok Rivers (1). In February, the last Irrawaddy dolphin in the Mekong River in Laos was found dead, entangled in gillnets (2, 3). The remaining Mekong River population—about 90 individuals—spans only 180 km in Cambodia (1). Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong, along with those in Indonesia’s Mahakam River and Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady River, are threatened by anthropogenic activities that put the species at risk of imminent regional extinction (1, 4). Cambodia, Indonesia, and Myanmar must therefore act quickly to conserve the species.



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