Mekong River’s endangered Irrawaddy dolphins show population rise

Conservationists and Cambodian officials have welcomed the rise in the species’ numbers.

The species still faces a number of challenges (AP)

By Sopheng Cheang

The number of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins along a stretch of the Mekong River has increased for the first time in 20 years but the animals still face serious threats, Cambodia’s government and conservationists said.

A joint statement issued by the World Wide Fund for Nature and Cambodia’s fisheries administration said a 2017 census pegged the population of the freshwater dolphins along a 118-mile stretch of river from Kratie in Cambodia to the Khone Falls in Laos at 92, a 15% increase over an estimate of 80 made in 2015.