Days of doom for dolphins in kerala

---

Killing the animal is punishable. So is the possession of

its meat. Still, dolphin is in trouble

---

In danger: A dolphin snared by fishermen.

They are considered as one of the friendliest species from the water world. They charm people around the globe through their acrobatic skills and playful ways.

Yet dolphins are running into trouble. The classification of the animal as an endangered one and the protective cover provided by law by way of including it in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Act have failed to rescue the animal.

A few weeks ago, the meat of a dolphin was put on sale at one of the coastal villages of Thiruvananthapuram.

Considering the case as an indicator of the threat the animal was facing, the State Forest Department has registered a case for the killing of the animal. More than that, the department has also launched an awareness campaign.

“We have been attempting to drive home the message that killing of dolphins is a crime punishable under the Wildlife Act,” said V.S. Varghese, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

The message is passed on to the fishermen community through churches and their local networks as an awareness programme can only save the animal. Like the killing of the animal, the possession of its meat is also punishable. Even if the dolphin accidentally enters the fishing nets, the animal should be released back to water, he suggested.

Fishermen kill these animals out of the fear that the dolphins eat fish and destroy the nets. The meat of the dolphins is some times used as baits by some fishermen, scientists pointed out.

The department had also implemented some action against the selling of marine turtles in some of the local markets in Kattakada. Dolphin species like Bottle noses and spinners are mostly present in the Kerala waters.

Though some researches on marine mammals including dolphins were carried out recently, scientists said that they were not in a position to tell anything about its population. This uncertainty and absence of scientific information on its numbers make very killing a highly risky affair to the animal species. And every animal rescued and protected counts much.