Myanmar applauds Thai Thai proposal to protect dolphins

Myanmar applauds Thai Thai proposal to protect dolphins

Associated Press, Yangon, Myanmar

Myanmar marine experts have applauded a proposal by neighboring
Thailand for greater protection for a local species of dolphin at
international talks on wildlife trafficking, a semiofficial
newspaper reported Sunday.

The move to ban trade in the rare Irrawaddy dolphin is to be
presented at the CITES meeting in Bangkok of the 166 countries
that have signed the agreement. The meting started on Saturday.

CITES aims to protect about 30,000 plant and animal species,
many of them threatened with extinction due to trafficking.

Ending the trade in Irrawaddy dolphins would help ensure the
survival of the species and would likely mean Myanmar would
receive more funding from international groups for conservation
work, The Myanmar Times newspaper quoted marine biologist Tint
Tun as saying.

Although the dolphins are named after the Myanmar river where
some of them live, they are also found in rivers and coastal
areas in Southeast Asia, India and northern Australia.

Wild Irrawaddy dolphins are critically endangered, according
to the World Wildlife Fund. They are often caught by traders who
sell them to aquariums, particularly in Asia, which seek them for
their pleasing appearance and ability to perform tricks.

Tint Tun said Myanmar fishermen and villagers did not kill or
trade the dolphins, but that more protection is needed because
the mammals face accidental deaths due to entanglement in fishing
nets.

The Thai proposal was also welcomed by Mya Than Tun, an
official at the Department of Fisheries, who said the dolphin
population in the Irrawaddy River was declining.

The latest survey of the dolphin population by the New York-
based Wildlife Conservation Society last December estimated that
only 59 remain in the river.

Observers say their survival is also threatened by gold mining
in the upper part of the river, which causes an accumulation of
pebbles, blockage of the river flow by an increasing number of
mining vessels, and pollution from mercury used in gold
processing.

GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 3, 2004 20:14:49