Irrawaddy dolphins functionally extinct in Laos: Survey
The population of critically endangered Mekong River Dolphins – Irrawaddy Dolphins – in the Cheuteal trans-boundary pool between southern Laos and northern Cambodia has shrunk by 50 percent this year and the population is functionally extinct in Laos. World Wildlife Fund survey teams from Laos and Cambodia recently conducted a dolphin abundance survey and confirmed the current number and breeding status of the dolphins in the trans-boundary pool. The survey teams reported that the group has now shrunk to just three individuals from six earlier this year. There is now little hope for a reversal of the situation, as the small population is no longer viable. Functional extinction results when there are too few potential breeding pairs available to ensure the survival of the population, they said. The population of Irrawaddy Dolphins is functionally extinct in the near future if we don’t have good measures to protect them, WWF-Laos Southern Provinces Coordinator Ms Amphone Phommachak said.
