in the river Indus near Taunsa Barrage, a habitat of species. It took them about six hours to cover the stretch. The severe weather halted the efforts of organisers to see dolphins during the Safari tour. Long waves of water and storm-like heavy wind camouflaged the movement of dolphin.
Abu Bakar, Communications Officer of WWF Lahore, told the media that they organised such tours every year to sensitise the tourists about the conservation of the environment and wildlife.
Their every tour had a theme and this tour was titled as “Indus Dolphin Boat Safari”. It was mainly concerned with the conservation of Indus Blind Dolphin.
He said that Indus Blind Dolphin popularly known as “Bhulan” to the locals had been listed as an endangered species in International Union of Conservation of Nature (ICUN)’s Red List. It is also listed as a protected animal in schedule III of the provincial wildlife legislations.
Indus Dolphin was a mammal. It needed fresh air to breath and could not survive without water. Five barrages built at the river Indus have divided the habitat of this specie. The dolphin cannot swim upstream and also cannot cross bridges.
He said that sometimes it would get trapped into dams or canals. And from there, it would go to the places where there was very little water. Many cases have been reported in which dolphin died. He said that last year the WWF rescued three dolphins which were trapped into low-water land.
Waste and toxic material disposed of by Chashma Nuclear Plant and industries was the other main reason of the deaths of dolphin. He said that toxic and poisonous material as the causes of death had been revealed in the autopsy reports of the deceased dolphins.
Illegal fishing activities like use of nets with fine-mesh, use of chemicals and currents was the third main reason of death of the dolphin. He said that there had been many cases in which the dolphin got trapped into the net of the fish-hunter and he had no skill to rescue it.
The tourists tried to capture the snaps of the dolphin diving into the water and a few were successful. After sometime, the tour started its journey back to Lahore with the happy memories in mind.