Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor), recorded as Endangered
Indus river dolphin (Platanista minor). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Indus river dolphin

Platanista minor

Indus river dolphin is a mammal in the family Platanistidae (order Cetacea) — Platanista minor, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Platanista minor
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Cetacea · Platanistidae · Platanista

Appearance

The snout thickens towards its end. The body is a brownish color and stocky at the middle. The species has a small triangular lump in place of a dorsal fin.

The oldest recorded animal was a 28-year-old male 199 cm (78 in) in length.

Range and habitat

The Indus river dolphin occurs in the Indus River system. Its range once stretched over about 3,400 km (2,100 mi) of the Indus River and its tributaries, but today, it only occurs in about 690 km (430 mi) of the river, and its range has declined by 80% since 1870. It is not present anymore in the tributaries. A remnant population is present in the Beas River and Harike Wetland located in Punjab, India.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Habits

It is the national mammal of Pakistan and the state aquatic animal of Punjab, India.

In crisis

In Pakistan, it occurs in the Indus River, where five small sub-populations are separated by irrigation barrages. In India, a very small isolated population at a very high risk of extinction lives in the Beas River. Entanglement in fishing nets can cause significant damage to local population numbers.

Water pollution from industrial and agricultural chemicals may have also contributed to population decline. Perhaps the most significant issue is the building of dozens of dams along many rivers, causing the segregation of populations and a narrowed gene pool in that dolphins can breed.

Indus river dolphin is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Indus river dolphin, Wikidata item Q260018. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica), recorded as EndangeredEN

Ganges river dolphin

Platanista gangetica
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii

Quick answers

What is Indus river dolphin?
It is endemic to the rivers of the Indus basin in Pakistan and northwestern India.
What is the conservation status of Indus river dolphin?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Platanista minor. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Indus river dolphin live?
Its range once stretched over about 3,400 km (2,100 mi) of the Indus River and its tributaries, but today, it only occurs in about 690 km (430 mi) of the river, and its range has declined by 80% since 1870. It is not present anymore in the tributaries.
Why is Indus river dolphin in crisis?
In India, a very small isolated population at a very high risk of extinction lives in the Beas River.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Platanista minor?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Indus river dolphin a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.