28 January

An Ayeyawady dolphin was found dead on Saturday from the silted shore in the east of Sin Ywar Village in Patheingyi Township, Mandalay Region.

The dead male dolphin is 6.5 ft long and has been transported to the ship of Ayeyawady dolphin conservation in Mayanchan jetty in Mandalay, according to U Kyaw Hla Thein from Wildlife Conservation Society – Myanmar Program. Dolphin conservationists suspected of electric shock fishing the cause of the dolphin death as no injury was found on the carcass. During the law enforcement for Ayeyawady dolphin conservation, 50 illegal fishing boats and related fishing gears were caught, and 18 fishermen were also charged with illegal fishing, according to the news release by Wildlife Conservation Society – Myanmar Program.

Moreover, a total of 197 fishing boats were also seized during the tour of monitoring for forbidding fishing in breeding season.—Nyi Tu (Translated by Kyaw Zin Tun)