A newborn Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin swims in the Mekong River in Kratie province, Cambodia on April 4, 2025. - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries/WWF/Handout via Xinhua
PHNOM PENH: Another newborn Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin has been sighted, raising the number of newborn dolphin calves in Cambodia to six so far this year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said in a press release on Saturday (April 5).
The new calf, about four days old, was spotted on Friday at the Kampi dolphin pool in Kratie province's Chetr Borei district by a team of researchers from the Fisheries Administration and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
"This newborn dolphin was seen swimming alongside a pod of five adult dolphins," the press release said. "It is the sixth dolphin calf born in 2025."
The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphins have been listed since 2004 as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
In 2024, the South-East Asian country recorded a total of nine newborn dolphin calves, with four deaths, according to the news release.
The MAFF estimates that to date, there are 110 Irrawaddy dolphins living along a 120-km main channel of the Mekong River in northeast Stung Treng and Kratie provinces. - Xinhua
