Key Findings of the Report:
- Total Population: 6,327 Gangetic river dolphins present in the Ganga and its tributaries.
- Geographical Distribution:
- The highest is in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
- Breakdown of numbers:
- Ganga Mainstream: 3,275
- Ganga Tributaries: 2,414
- Brahmaputra Mainstream: 584
- Brahmaputra Tributaries: 51
- Beas River: 3 (Indus river dolphins)
- Survey Coverage: Conducted over 8,507 km of river stretch between 2021 and 2025.
- First use of acoustic hydrophones (underwater microphones) to track dolphins.
Comparison of River Dolphins in India:
Feature | Gangetic River Dolphin | Indus River Dolphin | Irrawaddy Dolphin |
Common Name | Susu | Bhulan | Irrawaddy Dolphin |
Habitat | Freshwater | Freshwater | Freshwater & coastal waters |
Distribution | Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems (India, Nepal, Bangladesh) | Lower Indus River (Pakistan) and Beas River (India) | Coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia; Rivers: Irrawaddy (Myanmar), Mahakam (Indonesia), Mekong (China); Chilika Lake (India) |
IUCN Status | Endangered | Endangered | Critically Endangered |
Why in News?
- The dolphin report was officially made public on March 3, 2025, by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

