Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope
Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their […]
The Indus River dolphin, a blind mammal that has adapted to life in the shallow, dry-season waters of Pakistan's Indus Basin, is facing significant threats from habitat fragmentation caused by dams, canals, and irrigation barrages. Their historical range has been reduced by around 80% since the late 19th century, with the species once numbering 10,000 individuals.
However, due to conservation efforts, the population has rebounded from 617 individuals in 2001 to approximately 2,000 today. In response to this recovery, Pakistan's government has established the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in June 2026, which spans nearly 200 kilometers of the river in Punjab and connects with an existing protected area in Sindh province.
This new 400-kilometer stretch of legally protected habitat offers a crucial lifeline to one of the world's rarest freshwater dolphins.
Brief written by urgent.news from Mongabay's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
