A new study estimates that Nepal’s endangered river dolphins population may have increased to approximately 50. The study on the endangered Ganges river dolphins in Nepal was led by Shambhu Paudel, assistant professor of wildlife biology at Kathmandu Forestry College. Boat-based surveys were conducted in the three major river systems, Karnali, Sapta Koshi and Narayani.
“Although our results reveal a severely limited river dolphin population with low abundance and fragmented sub-populations, our global estimate for all of Nepal (95% CI = 28 to 52 individuals) is higher than the estimated population of 20 individuals in 2011 (Jnawali et al. 2011), likely due to our inclusion of adjustments for detection bias. We are somewhat encouraged that the population of dolphins in Nepal is likely larger than previously appreciated; however, we believe that it is imperative that these data are used to develop local and global recovery strategies for the management of this Critically Endangered species.” – Paudel et al. (2015). Read the study here!