Horrifying Video Shows Men Torturing Gangetic Dolphin To Death In Kolkata, Sparks Fury Online
In the first incident of man-animal conflict, a young gangetic dolphin was tortured to death by a group of young men in Kolkata. According to TOI, the incident came to light after one Rafiku Saihk uploaded a that showed a group of men holding the dolphin by its snout and tailing and torturing it.
It took 30 years for 'critically endangered' South Asian River Dolphins (also known as Ganges Dolphins) to come back to the ghats of Kolkata. Just last month, Biswajit Roy Chowdhury, a senior environmental activist stated he spotted a couple of dolphins at Babughat in Kolkata.
YouTube/Kry Svz/TOI
Unfortunately, the appearance of this rare animal has already led to cases of poaching and cruelty. Recently, a young gangetic dolphin was tortured to death by a group of young men in Kolkata.
According to TOI, the incident came to light after one Rafiku Saihk uploaded a video that showed a group of men holding the dolphin by its snout and tailing and torturing it.
Ganges dolphins, are categorised as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species.
The report soon went viral, sparking fury among animal activists and netizens:
#1
As dolphins return to Kolkata, Bengal men torture one on camera.
¡ª Namta Gupta (@Namta_G) May 12, 2020
Everything wrong with humans today.https://t.co/58fKnKDXja
#2
As dolphins return to Kolkata, Bengal men torture one on camera https://t.co/MFe1pvEi9Q
¡ª Vanara (@AgentSaffron) May 12, 2020
- Dolphins are children of Ganga Maa. These s*bhumans should be hunted down and given maximum punishment.
#3
As dolphins return to Kolkata, Bengal men torture one on camera | Kolkata News - Times of India
¡ª Chowkidar Jugal Kej.????? (@AgarJugal) May 12, 2020
Will @MamataOfficial govt will take action in favour of endangered species and the culprits who are torturing river dolphin? https://t.co/dJ46DhXEk9
#4
As Gangetic Dolphin returns to Hoogly river (West Bengal), person named Rafiku Shaikh tortured one infant dolphin to death and uploaded video
¡ª Rangoli Chandel (@girlpower0987) May 13, 2020
These people are not humans they are evils pic.twitter.com/DNxIlVHaZO
#5
It seems lockdown hasn¡¯t been able to root out the ¡®viruses¡¯ responsible for the disappearance of the dolphins from river in first place. Young #gangetic #Dolphin was literally tortured to death by bunch of young men https://t.co/L4S8OiThyd
¡ª fairy queen (@akri2000) May 13, 2020
#6
Speechless!!! Young helpless gangetic dolphin literally tortured to death by group of men on the banks of Hooghly, India's West Bengal state. The matter is under investigation.https://t.co/ujkpyE2Jbo pic.twitter.com/RmT5EEdwYl
¡ª Marine Connection (@MC_org) May 12, 2020
According to TOI exact location of the incident hasn¡¯t been confirmed yet. Another video showed the dolphin being released in the river in a bad condition. Noted environmentalist, Biswajit Roychowdhury's organization has complained about it to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and the matter is under investigation. He added that the dolphin in the video is an infant, probably a few weeks old.
¡°We are assuming that the place is in between Kolkata and Burdwan and hoping that the culprits will be brought to book soon,¡± Biswajit told TOI. Headded, "The mammals have very sensitive skin and the way it has been handled, as shown in the videos, it is likely to be dead despite being released in water.¡±
The global population of Gangetic dolphins is barely between 1,200 to 1,800. In 2017, a team experts from the Worldwide Fund for Nature-India mapped the abundance of and threats to Gangetic dolphins in the Hooghly. One of the most 'striking features' of the study was that the endangered mammals were sighted in highly polluted pockets of the river.
The study found that apart from pollution, one of the biggest threats to the existence of dolphins in the Hoogly river was human activity and transport.
In another case of cruelty, a gutted carcass of a freshwater dolphin has been found in a river sanctuary in Bangladesh reports Aljazeera.
Locals in the southeastern town of Raojan found the remains of the 62-inch (157-centimetre) long Ganges river dolphin on the banks of the Halda River, fishery department official, Abdullah al Mamun, told AFP news agency.
This dolphin is the second to be found dead in the same sanctuary since Bangladesh imposed its lockdown to try and tackle the spread of the coronavirus, according to Manzoorul Kibria, coordinator of the Halda River Research Laboratory.
AFP
The Ganges river dolphin is found in the river systems of Nepal, Bangladesh and India can weigh up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and grow to up to 2.6 metres (eight feet) long. They are known for their long beaks which have 28 sharp teeth on both sides of their jaws.
The lockdown definitely has proven to be a boon for nature in myriad ways - pollution levels have come down and the absence of human activities has allowed animals and birds to come out in the open like never before.
However, the days after lockdown might pose a serious threat to their existence. Some cases, like one mentioned above, has already sparked alarm among environmentalist. Environmentalist Joydeep Kundu warns that in a few months after the lockdown is lifted, man-animal conflict is bound to increase and the lack of awareness can turn things all the more ugly.
