Rare Indus dolphin found dead in Harike Lake
The 7-foot-long Dolphin weighed 100kg and was found dead at gate number 2 of the Ferozepur feeder canal, which originates from this lake.
A rare Indus Dolphin was found dead on the banks of Harike Lake, at the confluence of Satluj and Beas, on the border of Ferozepur and Tarn Taran district.
The 7-foot-long Dolphin weighed 100kg and was found dead at gate number 2 of the Ferozepur feeder canal, which originates from this lake.
As per experts, now there are five Dolphins left in the lake.
The Indus River dolphin is a species of freshwater dolphin and is endemic to the Indus River basin in Pakistan and Beas, in India which is the only known habitat of this rare species. In 2019, this freshwater cetacean was named Punjab’s state aquatic animal.
The species have a long, pointed nose characteristic of all river dolphins. Its teeth are visible in both the upper and lower jaws, even when the mouth is closed.
Experts said that in 1930 it was supposed to have become extinct in India but was discovered in 2007 in a WWF survey.
On being informed by the patrolling employees at 9 am, a team from the department of forest and wild animals rushed to the spot.
The carcass of the Dolphin was found amid the garbage that gets collected at the gate of the canal. The carcass was pulled out and sent to a veterinary hospital at Patti for the post-mortem, a forest department official said.
“It looks like it died a week ago. As per the post-mortem report, the fish died of natural causes. It died in the upstream of Beas and flowed downstream. It got stuck in the gates of the Ferozepur feeder,” range officer Kamaljit Singh said.