The 'tiger of the Ganga' is the nomenclature for the Ganga river dolphin which enjoys the same status in the river ecosystem as that of a tiger in a forest.
Like the tiger, the dolphin is close to extinction with its numbers having plunged from 6,000 in 1982 to less than 1,800 in 2012.
With India losing nearly 160 animals a year, WWF India has launched a three-day awareness campaign, 'My Ganga, My Dolphin', in which they will conduct a survey of the number of dolphins present across a 2,800-km stretch of the Ganga river, along with the Yamuna, Son, Ken, Betwa, Ghagra and Geruwal rivers.
“The beleaguered animal, popularly known as susu, is an extremely important indicator of a healthy aquatic ecosystem,” said Ravi Singh, the CEO of WWF India.
Being at the apex of the aquatic food chain, its presence symbolises greater biodiversity in the river system. It inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
“Unfortunately, the construction of more than 50 dams and barrages on these rivers results in separating the populations and reducing the water levels in the river. Indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilisers and the entanglement of these mammals in nylon fishing nets are some of the reasons for this rapid decline in population,” said Ravi Singh.
Previous sightings have led the WWF to believe that there is one dolphin to be found every 5 km in the Ganga river between Bijnore and Narora in UP while in the Chambal, they have sighted one dolphin every 6.5 km.
“There have been dolphin sightings between the Kanpur-Allahabad stretch of the Ganga river but the water is so polluted that it cannot support a breeding population,” said Dr Sandeep Behera, assistant director of River Basins and Biodiversity, WWF.
The survey will be conducted with the help of forest department officials and 15 local non-governmental organisations.