The tagging exercise has been conducted under Project Dolphin.
- Tagging involves attaching a device, marker, or tag to an animal for identification or tracking.
About the Tagging initiative
- Objective: It will help in understanding their migratory patterns, range, distribution, and habitat utilization, particularly in fragmented river systems.
- It was conducted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and implemented by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department.
- It was funded by the National CAMPA Authority.
- National CAMPA Authority, established under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016, manages the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (under the Public Account of India).
- It was funded by the National CAMPA Authority.
About Project Dolphin
- A MoEFCC-funded project launched in 2020 modelled after Project Tiger.
- It aims at conserving the Ganges River dolphins and the riverine ecosystem.
About Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica)
- It is India’s National Aquatic Animal and is endemic to the Indian sub-continent.
- Habitat: Restricted to freshwater (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh)
- Presently, India houses about 90% of the global population of the dolphins.
- IUCN Status: Endangered
Key Features of Ganges River dolphin
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