Dolphin conservation in Nepal and India


Gopal Khanal
Local level wildlife conservation authorities of Nepal and India have agreed to work together to ensure the long term survival of the endangered Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) along the Karnali-Geruwa-Katarniyaghat international waterways of Nepal and India. At the “Nepal-India Trans-Boundary Cooperation Meeting” on 31st October, 2013, authorities and local community stakeholders recognized the importance of trans-boundary cooperation and affirmed the need for collective conservation actions to conserve the dolphin and other freshwater biodiversity of the region. Mr. Ramesh Thapa, Assistant warden of the Bardiya National Park, Nepal and Mr. Irphan Ahemad, Deputy Renzer of the Katarniyaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (India) signed a agreement to develop and strengthen joint conservation actions to reduce the threats to dolphins.

The agreement states that authorities are committed to expand bilateral cooperation in the trans-border region to reduce threats and ensure dolphin conservation, try to continue such trans-border cooperation meetings at a government level and conduct at least one joint dolphin monitoring survey per year. The event was organized by the CLP-funded project "Ecology and Conservation of Ganges river dolphin in the Karnali river" which aims to strengthen trans-border cooperation for dolphin and associated freshwater biodiversity conservation in this region.


The Ganges river dolphin's population in this region is isolated by the Girijapuri dam, which is about 20 km downstream of the Nepal-Indo border in the Indian frontier. The dolphin population has been significantly reduced upstream of the dam after its construction in 1970s. This dam has effectively isolated the migration of river dolphins from downstream to upstream. Due to the lack of joint monitoring, the exact population status of dolphin from the Karnali river of Nepal to Girijapuri dam is still unknown. The Karnali-Geruwa-Katarniyaghat international waterway is about 100 km long, 80 km of which falls in the Nepalese region, the rest in India. 

The small dolphin population in this region is threatened by habitat fragmentation and degradation, prey depletion, pollution, intentional killing, lack of conservation awareness among local community and relevant conservation authorities. As most of the dolphins in this region live and breed in the trans-border area and also migrate to smaller tributaries of the Karnali following the monsoon, their effective conservation will be possible only when conservation efforts are made from both Nepal and India.

This is the first effort to join hands for freshwater biodiversity conservation between Nepal and India. This can enable conservation authorities and local communities to work more effectively to conserve dolphins while recognizing the potential of sustained eco-tourism and improved livelihood of the fishing community. A total of 75 people participated in the program, including government and non-government stakeholders along with local community members and fishermen. Until now, trans-border level cooperation meetings have focused only on the conservation of terrestrial mega fauna like tiger and rhino.

Photos 2 and 4 by Shree Ram Ghimire, National Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal. Photo3  by Johhny Sparshatt.
By: Gopal Khanal ("Ecology and Conservation of Ganges River Dolphin in Karnali Nepal", 2013)
Location: Kailali, Nepal

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