Fisherman arrested for eating rare Indian river dolphin after ‘accidentally’ catching it

Hunting of the endangered Gangetic dolphin, recognised by its long snout nose, is banned

File: A rescued river dolphin in Guwahati, Assam (EPA PHOTO/EPA/STR)

A fisherman was arrested in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh for "accidentally" catching a rare river dolphin and then eating it.

Police were searching for four others involved in the incident.

Five men were reportedly fishing in the Yamuna river on 22 July, when a river dolphin got trapped in their net. The suspects brought out the dolphin and carried it to their house where they cooked and ate it, according to the police.

Following a complaint lodged by Chail forest ranger Ravindra Kumar, a formal police case was registered against suspect Ranjeet Kumar and three others under India's Wildlife Protection Act (1972).

"On the basis of the written information given by forest officer Ravindra Kumar in connection with the hunting of Gangetic dolphins in Yamuna river village Naseerpur, a case has been registered in Pipri police station," the local police said in a statement.

"One accused has been arrested in the case, and soon the rest of the accused will be arrested."

Hunting of the endangered Gangetic dolphin, recognised by its long snout nose, is banned under the first schedule of the Wildlife Protection Act. Poaching of river dolphins can lead to imprisonment of up to seven years.

Purported video shows fishermen in Uttar Pradesh, India, carrying a river dolphin (Screengrab/ India Today)

The Gangetic dolphins once thrived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. But the species is extinct from most of its early distribution ranges, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

According to a 2019 study from the organisation, there are approximately 2,500-3,000 Ganges river dolphins left in the wild.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has placed these mammals in the "endangered" category.

Despite efforts to save the river dolphins, atrocities against the mammal have continued unabated. Ten people were arrested in March after they were found to be carrying 22 dead common dolphins in their fishing boat off the coast of western state of Gujarat.

In 2021, three men in India were arrested after they were filmed brutally beating a river dolphin to death in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh.