Blind Indus Dolphin rescued from Dadu Canal

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LARKANA: A blind Indus Dolphin was rescued from Dadu Canal by local fishermen with the help of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Sukkur, near Mohenjo Daro on Thursday.

It was first spotted by villagers who regularly cross the canal to reach bigger towns, however, they did not inform anyone that it needed to be rescued.

Local fishermen told newsmen that they informed the WWF Sukkur team which reached the spot and safely rescued the rare and endangered dolphin from the canal.

They said that they had been noticing the dolphin since last few days but they were not sure if it would survive due to the receding water level. “This rare dolphin is blind and wanted to cross the regulator but was unable to do so. It was constantly swimming forward and backwards,” they said.

WWF’s representative Imran Malik said that the fish weight was over 40 kg and was healthy, adding that the dolphin would be released into its natural habitat, the Indus River.

He said that hunting of such fish species had been banned, so fishermen had been trained not to harm it so as to save its breeding. “This type of rare species can remain alive for a fixed time and then they die because it is a very sensitive animal,” he said.

The rescue team, after capturing the animal, put it into a water tank for some time and plan to release it into the Indus River soon.