Cambodia threatens to suspend WWF after dolphin report

Jun 24, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian official Wednesday threatened to suspend the operations of an international wildlife group after it released a report claiming an endangered dolphin species was at risk of extinction due to pollution in the Mekong River.

Touch Seang Tana, chairman of Cambodia's Commission for Conversation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphins Eco-Tourism Zone, said World Wildlife Foundation (WFF) investigators faced suspension unless they met with him to discuss their report.

The WFF report released last week said 88 dolphins had died since 2003 and researchers had found toxic levels of pesticides and environmental contaminants in their analysis of Irrawaddy dolphin calves.

'This report simply is not true,' Touch Seang Tana told a press conference. 'These findings were reported without consultation with me, so I sent a letter to the WFF to come and meet with me to clarify these points.'

He denied that dolphin deaths were caused by pollution and said the report put Cambodia's burgeoning eco-tourism sector at risk.

'A few deaths have been caused by dolphins becoming trapped in fishing nets in the Mekong River, but it was not due to pollution,' he said. 'I wrote to the WFF to clarify this and if they do not wish to meet with me to discuss this, then their operations in the area could be suspended.'

The report estimated that between 64 and 76 dolphins remained in the 160-kilometre stretch of the Mekong that runs through Laos and Cambodia.

It said 60 per cent of the 88 deaths had occurred in dolphin calves less than two weeks old.

Cambodia Rejects CNN, WWF Reports about Mekong Dolphin

2009-06-24
Xinhua

The office of the council of ministers of Cambodian on Wednesday rejected the report from CNN and WWF that Mekong dolphin in Cambodia is facing risk of extinction from pollution and devastating threat from proposed dams.

CNN broadcast worldwide last week about Mekong dolphin quoted the wrong report from WWF (World Wild Fund) on the risk of extinction of Cambodia's Mekong dolphin, said Touch Seang Tana, chairman of Cambodia's Commission for Conservation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphins Eco-tourism Zone.

"They are discrediting the Cambodian government and are looking down my institution," he told reporters in a press conference, adding that WWF want to gain more fund from donors for their project by reporting dolphin in brink of extinction.

He said "Up to now, we have about 150-160 Mekong dolphins in Cambodia in total but the WWF's report said it has 64-76 dolphins. Each year, we gained 10 baby dolphins and since 2003, the population has suffered 91 deaths not 88 like WWF's report."

"The WWF's report did not implement scientific research," he said.

Most dolphins died of fishing net from local fishermen and explosion devices for local people to catch fish. They did not die from pollution, DDT, pesticide or dams, he said.

Meanwhile, he said that Cambodia has fishery law, if people kill dolphin, they will be punished. Local people understand about benefit of dolphin and we have deployed our officials to conserve dolphins, Touch Seang Tana said, adding that local people have never eaten dolphin because the body of dolphin is like female human being.

CNN (report) is destroying the benefit of the poor who live near the tourism area of dolphin shelters in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces of Cambodia, he said. Moreover, its report would also impact the tourism sector of Cambodia and the job opportunity of local people.

"Each year, the dolphin tourism zone absorbed about 20,000 foreign tourists and about 100,000 local tourists," Touch Seang Tana said. "We will invite the experts from WWF to clarify with us. "

At the same time, he said that Cambodia needs electricity to fill the local demand. "But if we build hydropower plants, we will balance the development and conservation of the natural resources like dolphin," he added.

WWF Cambodia country director Seng Teak was not available for making comment and Tep Nasnarith, spokesman of WWF, also could not comment immediately.

Cambodia rejects report of Mekong River dolphins

Sunday, June 21, 2009
ZeeNews.com (India)

Phnom Penh, June 20: The Cambodian government has rejected as "a total lie" the report by an international conservation group that dolphins living in parts of the Mekong River between Cambodia and Laos are on the brink of extinction due to pollution.

The report by the World Wide Fund for Nature was aimed at attracting and convincing donors to inject more funds into the group, Chairman of Commission for Conservation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphin and eco-tourism Touch Seang Tana, told Kyodo News.

Inhabiting a 190-kilometer stretch of the river, the Irrawaddy dolphin population has suffered 88 deaths since 2003, of which 58 were calves under 2 weeks old, bringing the latest population to an estimated 64 to 76 members, the WWF said in its report.

WWF researchers found high toxic levels of pesticides such as DDT and environmental contaminants such as PCBs as well mercury after analysing 21 dead dolphins retrieved between 2004 and 2006, the group said.

According to Tana, the number of dolphins instead has increased to 160 from the 120 recorded in 2000.

"There are no such critical pollutants, otherwise, some 50,000 people living along the 200-km stretch of the river and who are using and drinking the water might have died before the dolphins," he said.

Mekong Dolphin in Danger

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 June 2009

Only between 64 and 74 Irrawady dolphins remain in the river between Cambodia and Laos, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature announced Wednesday.

Pollution from DDT, mercury and other toxins have led to a sharp decline in the rare species, with as many as 88 individuals dying since 2003, according to a recent report.

“These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows”, said Verné Dove, report author and veterinarian with WWF Cambodia.

The organization is investigating the source of the contaminants, he said.

According to the international institution, high levels of mercury were found in some of the dead dolphins. Mercury, suspected to be from gold mining activities, directly affects the immune system, making the animals more susceptible to infectious disease.

WWF is working to conserve the species in Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Touch Sean Tana, secretary of state for the Council of Ministers and head of Cambodia's Commission to Conserve Mekong River Dolphins and Develop Ecotourism, denied the findings.

“Ninety-nine percent of the dolphins die because they are trapped in nets,” he said, denying that DDT and mercury were responsible.

“They want to cook their eggs, but they burn down our house,” he said of the WWF, adding that according to his estimates, 150 to 160 of the dolphins live in the Mekong between Cambodia and Laos.

Mekong dolphins on the brink of extinction

Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella Brevirostris) at Koh Kon Sat, Mekong River, Cambodia. The dolphins were photographed during the dolphin population research conducted by WWF Cambodia's Mekong Dolphin Conservation Project in November 2007.C Dave Dove /WWF Grea
Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella Brevirostris) at Koh Kon Sat, Mekong River, Cambodia. The dolphins were photographed during the dolphin population research conducted by WWF Cambodia's Mekong Dolphin Conservation Project in November 2007. C Dave Dove /WWF Greater Mekong.

18/06/2009
WildlifeExtra.com

Mekong River
WWF is working to conserve 600,000km2 of the world's most biologically diverse, economically viable and seriously threatened forests and rivers within the Greater Mekong, home and life source to over 300 million people in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin is regarded as a sacred animal by both Khmer and Lao people, and is an important source of income and jobs for communities involved in dolphin-watching ecotourism initiatives.

More than 60 million people in the lower Mekong basin depend on the river system for food, transport and economic activity. The Mekong River produces an estimated 2.5 million tons of fish per year, with a value of at least US$2 billion, making it the largest inland fisheries in the world. Eighty percent of the animal protein for Mekong inhabitants comes from the Mekong, with 70 percent of the commercial catch being long distance migrant species.

Mekong River dolphins on the verge of extinction
June 2009. Pollution in the Mekong River has pushed the local population of Irrawaddy dolphins to the brink of extinction, according to a new WWF report.

Less than 80 dolphins left
The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) population inhabits a 190 kilomtere stretch of the Mekong River between Cambodia and Lao PDR. Since 2003, the population has suffered 88 deaths of which more than 60 percent were calves under two weeks old. The latest population is estimated between 64 and 76 members.

Immune system depressed by pollutants
"Necropsy analysis identified a bacterial disease as the cause of the calf deaths. This disease would not be fatal unless the dolphin's immune systems were suppressed, as they were in these cases, by environmental contaminants," said Dr Verné Dove, report author and veterinarian with WWF Cambodia.

Researchers found toxic levels of pesticides such as DDT and environmental contaminants such as PCBs during analysis of the dead dolphin calves. These pollutants may also pose a health risk to human populations living along the Mekong that consume the same fish and water as the dolphins.

"These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows. WWF Cambodia is currently investigating the source of the environmental contaminants," said Dr Dove.

High levels of Mercury
High levels of mercury were also found in some of the dead dolphins. Mercury, suspected to be from gold mining activities, directly affects the immune system making the animals more susceptible to infectious disease.

"A trans-boundary preventative health programme is urgently needed to manage the disease affected animals in order to reduce the number of deaths each year," said Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF Cambodia.

Inbreeding
Limited genetic diversity due to inbreeding was another factor in the dolphin deaths.

"The Mekong River dolphins are isolated from other members of their species and they need our help. Science has shown that if the habitat of cetaceans is protected then populations can show remarkable resilience," said Mr Teak.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2004.

Mekong river dolphin near extinct: WWF

Thursday, June 18, 2009

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Pollution in southeast Asia's Mekong River has pushed freshwater dolphins in Cambodia and Laos to the brink of extinction, an international conservation group said.

The World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said only 64 to 76 Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the Mekong after toxic levels of pesticides, mercury and other pollutants were found in more than 50 calves who have died since 2003.

"These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows," said WWF veterinary surgeon Verne Dove in a press statement.

The organisation said it was investigating how environmental contaminants got into the Mekong, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

The WWF added that Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia and Laos urgently needed a health programme to counter the effects of pollution on their immune systems.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin, which inhabits a 190 kilometre (118 mile) stretch in Cambodia and Laos, has been listed as critically endangered since 2004, the WWF said.