Mekong River Dolphin near extinct

Pollution in southeast Asia's Mekong River has pushed freshwater dolphins in Cambodia and Laos to the brink of extinction, according to an international conservation group.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 organization 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.Their numbers had already been cut by illegal fishing nets and Cambodia's drawn-out civil conflict, in which dolphin blubber was used to lubricate machine parts and fuel lamps.The Mekong is one of only five freshwater habitats in the world for the Irrawaddy Dolphin, and Cambodia was thought to support its largest remaining population.With their pale grey skin and blunt beaks, Irrawaddy Dolphins resemble Porpoises more than their sea-going cousins, and congregate in a handful of the Mekong's natural deep-water pools.The river is also the world's largest inland fishery, producing some 2.5 million tonnes of fish per year valued at more than 2 billion dollars.