The first-ever report on the population estimation of riverine dolphins in India showed 6,327 dolphins are present in the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus River systems.

The preparation of the report involved surveying 28 rivers across eight states, with 3150 mandays dedicated to covering over 8,500 kilometers.

"Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest numbers, followed by Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam," the report showed.

The report was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Gir National Park in Gujarat, where he attended the 7th meeting of the National Board for Wildlife.

Prime Minister Modi emphasised the importance of awareness on dolphin conservation by the involvement of local population and villagers in the areas.

He also advised organising exposure visits of school children in dolphin habitat areas.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the National Referral Centre for Wildlife at Junagadh, which will function as the hub for coordination and governance of various aspects related to wildlife health and disease management.

The population estimation of Asiatic Lions is carried out once every five years.

The last such exercise was carried out in 2020.

Asiatic Lions Estimation

Prime Minister Modi announced the initiation of the 16th cycle of lion estimation to be conducted in 2025.

Also Read: PM Modi explores Gujarat's Gir forest on World Wildlife Day, captures majestic Asiatic lions on camera

Considering that the Asiatic Lions have now made Barda Wildlife Sanctuary their home through natural dispersal, the Prime Minister announced that lion conservation in Barda will be supported through prey augmentation and other habitat improvement efforts.

Underscoring the importance of eco-tourism as a means for development and conservation of wildlife habitats, he emphasised that there should be ease of travelling and connectivity for wildlife tourism.

The Prime Minister stressed on the usage of remote sensing & geospatial mapping and Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning to combat issues like forest fires and human-animal conflicts. He suggested engagement of the Wildlife Institute of India with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) to address the challenge of human-wildlife conflict.

To enhance the monitoring and management of forest fires, particularly in highly sensitive protected areas, focusing on prediction, detection, prevention, and control, the Prime Minister advised for a collaboration between the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, and BISAG-N through use of space technology.

Cheetah

Prime Minister Modi also announced that the Cheetah introduction will be expanded to other areas including the Gandhisagar Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and Banni Grasslands in Gujarat.

The Prime Minister announced a scheme focused on the conservation of tigers outside tiger reserves.

The initiative aims to address human-tiger and other co-predator conflicts in areas outside these reserves by ensuring co-existence with local communities.

Recognising the dwindling population of gharials and a view of ensuring the conservation of Gharials, Modi also announced the initiation of a new Project on Gharials for their conservation.

Modi commended the efforts undertaken towards conservation of Great Indian Bustard. Considering the need to upscale the conservation efforts, he announced a National Great Indian Bustard Conservation Action Plan.