Last Irrawaddy dolphin in northeastern Cambodia dies
The last known endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin on a stretch the Mekong River near Cambodia’s border with Laos died this week, after it was reported snagged in a fishing net, wildlife officials and villagers in the Southeast Asian countries said.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of the last dolphin … near the border of Laos,” Cambodia’s Fisheries Conservation Department said on its Facebook page.
Despite international efforts to protect it, the Irrawaddy dolphin sub-population in northeastern Cambodia “still faced serious pressure from human activities, the change of the Mekong water flow, and climate change, causing the total population to gradually decline, and the last individual died on February 15, 2022,” it said.
RFA Staff
