The number of Irrawaddy dolphins in one part of the Mekong River has increased for the first time tin 20 years. The dolphins, however, still face serious threats to their survival. They are considered critically endangered marine mammals in their native Southeast Asia. The Cambodian government and a major wildlife group reported the population increase earlier this week.

Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released results of a 2017 count of freshwater dolphins along a 190-kilometer part of the Mekong. The survey area stretches from Kratie in Cambodia to the Khone Falls in Laos. Observers reported finding about 90 dolphins. That is a 15 percent increase over an estimate of 80 made in 2015. The dolphins are found in only two other freshwater rivers: the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar and the Mahakam River on the Indonesian part of Borneo Island.

Eng Cheasan is the director-general of Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration. He described the dolphins as a “living national treasure.” He added that efforts to save the rare animals would continue. “We will continue our conservation efforts to rebuild its population by eliminating all threats to the survival of the species,” he said.

Although the increase during the latest count is good news, the number reported in the Mekong is only half of the 200 found during the first population count in 1997. Surveys are carried out every two to three years.

Aliqismet BADALOV,

“Khalq qazeti”