Fifth Mekong dolphin calf recorded this year

Censuses conducted by the Fisheries Administration and WWF-Cambodia show 13 and nine births in 2019-2020, respectively, and eight and nine deaths, leaving the total population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Kingdom’s reaches of the Mekong at just 89. From 2007-2020 the average annual growth rate has been 1.02 per cent and the average annual death rate has been 2.14 per cent, signalling a slow demise of the gentle creatures, according to a joint report by the two organisations.