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Bhubaneswar, Aug. 24: Forest officials have spotted Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), a Schedule-I animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, near Rambha in in the Chilika lake.
Dolphins are one of the major attractions of the lake. Irrawaddy dolphins used to be found in this part of the lake in the 1980s.
"Two of our teams spotted around 10 Irrawaddy dolphins in two groups in the region during a demolition drive of prawn dykes in Ganjam district. Though the dolphins are mostly seen in Satapada region of the lake in Puri district, presence of the animals in Rambha after several decades will be a delight for tourists," said additional chief executive of Chilika Development Authority Sasmita Lenka. The Chilika Lake is spread across the districts of Puri, Khurdha and Ganjam.
According to official data, as many as 89 Irrawaddy dolphins were in the lake in 2003, which gradually increased to 154 in 2016. Irrawaddy dolphins are also listed as a vulnerable species in International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened animals.
Forest officials said the presence of huge prawn dykes used to be the main hindrance behind the free movement dolphins. "We have recently demolished around 9,000 acres of encroachment in Khurdha and Ganjam districts. The lake area in these two districts has been made completely encroachment free. We have also removed 60 per cent of the total encroachments in the lake in Puri district," added Lenka.
Another forest official said that the dolphins in the lake faced several threats - right from fishing nets and prawn dykes to mechanised tourist and fishing boats.
"The distance between Satapada and Rambha is around 50km and the presence of dolphins in Rambha region is an outcome of removal of encroachment in the lake area. Mass presence of dolphins in Rambha will definitely bring more tourists to the region," said a forest official.
Earlier, the Chilika Development Authority had proposed to set up two rescue and rehabilitation centres for dolphins in the lake. The rehabilitation centres will have a treatment room and water body enclosures for the rescued dolphins. Besides, the organisation had also proposed to conduct a scientific study of the behaviour of dolphins in the lake and their migration patterns.