Saving the Irawaddy dolphin in Cambodia

Coffs man Troy Saville is in Cambodia fighting to save the Irrawaddy dolphin.SubmittedA COFFS Harbour man is fighting a desperate battle to save a rare freshwater dolphin from extinction.Marine mammal expert Troy Saville, who returned to Coffs for a quick visit last week, is part of a last-ditch effort to save the Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin.And unless these efforts are successful, this CITES-listed freshwater dolphin is doomed to follow China's Yangtze River dolphin, which became extinct less than two years ago.Troy Saville became well known in Coffs Harbour for his work on the care of marine mammals at the Pet Porpoise Pool, where he worked with its founder Hec Goodall. He was later the head curator of animals at the Coffs Harbour Zoo.For the last year he has been part of a World Wildlife Fund and Worlds Conservation Society team working in Cambodia. The team has been studying the mortality of the rare dolphins in the Mekong River."The total population is about 66-86 animals," Troy said. "We have photographed 70 over three years, but the mortality rate with calves over the last five years has been 70-80 per cent.There have been 88 dolphin deaths recorded since 2003, putting the animal at the verge of extinction. The Mekong's Irrawaddy dolphins are suffering from a 'toxic soup' effect, a recipe Mr Saville describes as: "a little mercury; heavy metals; DDT, PCBs and stress - all combining to deplete their immune systems and make them susceptible to pathogens."The team, led by internationally-recognised marine mammal veterinarian Verne Dove, are about to present a new three-year program to the Cambodian government to be pro-active and save the dolphins. Verne Dove also has a Coffs Harbour connection - she once worked as a volunteer at the Pet Porpoise Pool under Hec Goodall.One of the reasons for Troy Saville's current visit home was to talk to Hec Goodall about catching methods and to try to persuade their 81-year- old mentor to go to Cambodia to help them as a consultant.The rescue program involves capturing the dolphins for health checks, satellite tagging and vaccinating them against Aeromonas as well as using artificial insemination to expand the gene pool, because three very small populations of dolphins in the Mekong are physically separated by rapids and waterfalls.While the dolphins are Troy's main concern, he is also involved with a project which has found crocodiles believed to be from a species thought to have died out, the Siamese crocodile.The crocs are currently being held in a refuge in Cambodia while DNA testing is carried out.