PHNOM PENH: Researchers from the Kratie and Stung Treng Fisheries Administrations in partnership with WWF recorded a new baby dolphin after receiving information from a river guard stationed at the Anlong Kampi conservation area.

The team recorded the baby dolphin through a photo taken on the afternoon of June 15, 2023 at a river bend in the Anlong Kampi conservation area in Kratie province. According to the report, the newborn dolphin is about five days old and is swimming with five other adult dolphins.

In 2021 and 2022, the research team recorded six new dolphins. This is the fourth dolphin calf recorded this year with the first being spotted in early March. The last spotting of a dolphin calf was on April 15 in the nearby Stung Treng province. Tragically, a calf was found dead four days later after being caught in a fishing net.

Adult dolphins can reproduce from the age of seven and give birth every two years, with only one offspring at a time. The Irrawaddy dolphins have been listed as critically endangered since 2004 and continue to face extinction from illegal fishing activities and habitat destruction.