Editing Ganges (section)

===Ganges river dolphin===
[[File:GangeticDolphin.jpg|thumb|The Gangetic dolphin in a sketch by Whymper and P. Smit, 1894.]]
The river's most famed faunal member is the freshwater [[Ganges river dolphin]] (''Platanista gangetica gangetica''),<ref name=wwf0166/> which has been declared India's [[List of national animals|national aquatic animal]].<ref>{{cite web | url= http://wildpolitics.net/2010/01/19/ganges-river-dolphin-declared-indias-national-aquatic-animal/ | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110902103154/http://wildpolitics.net/2010/01/19/ganges-river-dolphin-declared-indias-national-aquatic-animal/ | url-status= dead | archive-date= 2 September 2011 | title= Ganges River Dolphin Declared India's National Aquatic Animal | publisher= WildPolitics.net | access-date= 6 May 2011 }}</ref>

This dolphin used to exist in large schools near urban centres in both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers but is now seriously threatened by pollution, dam construction and improper fishing methods.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/banned-but-abundant-gillnets-pose-main-threat-to-bangladeshs-river-dolphins/ | title= Banned but abundant, gillnets pose main threat to Bangladesh's river dolphins | access-date= 14 April 2024 }}</ref> Their numbers have now dwindled to a quarter of their numbers of fifteen years before, and they have become extinct in the Ganges' main tributaries.{{efn|name=puttick|1= {{harvtxt|Puttick|2008}}<br />"Sacred ritual is only one source of pollution. The main source of contamination is organic waste—sewage, trash, food, and human and animal remains. Around a billion liters of untreated raw sewage are dumped into the Ganges each day, along with massive amounts of agricultural chemicals (including DDT), industrial pollutants, and toxic chemical waste from the booming industries along the river. The level of pollution is now 10,000 percent higher than the government standard for safe river bathing (let alone drinking). One result of this situation is an increase in waterborne diseases, including cholera, hepatitis, typhoid, and amoebic dysentery. An estimated 80 percent of all health problems and one-third of deaths in India are attributable to waterborne illnesses." (p. 247)<br />"There have been various projects to clean up the Ganges and other rivers, led by the Indian government's Ganga Action Plan launched in 1985 by Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru. Its relative failure has been blamed on mismanagement, corruption, and technological mistakes, but also lack of support from religious authorities. This may well be partly because the Brahmin priests are so invested in the idea of the Ganges' purity and afraid that any admission of its pollution will undermine the central role of the water in ritual, as well as their own authority. There are many temples along the river, conducting a brisk trade in ceremonies, including funerals, and sometimes also the sale of bottled Ganga Jal. The more traditional Hindu priests still believe that blessing Ganga Jal purifies it, although they are now a very small minority given the scale of the problem." (p. 248)<br />"Wildlife is also under threat, particularly the river dolphins. They were one of the world's first protected species, given special status under the reign of Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC. They're now a critically endangered species, although protected once again by the Indian government (and internationally under the CITES convention). Their numbers have shrunk by 75 per cent over the last 15 years, and they have become extinct in the main tributaries, mainly because of pollution and habitat degradation." (p. 275)
----}} A 2012 survey by the [[World Wildlife Fund]] found only 3,000 left in the water catchment of both river systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/river_dolphins/ganges_river_dolphin/ |title=Ganges River dolphin |publisher=WWF |website=wwf.panda.org |access-date=4 July 2012 |archive-date=15 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415221525/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/river_dolphins/ganges_river_dolphin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Ganges river dolphin is one of only five true [[freshwater dolphin]]s in the world. The other four are the [[baiji]] (''Lipotes vexillifer'') of the [[Yangtze River]] in China, now likely extinct; the [[Indus River dolphin]] of the Indus River in Pakistan; the [[Amazon river dolphin]] of the Amazon River in South America; and the [[Araguaian river dolphin]] (not considered a separate species until 2014<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Hrbek | first1 = Tomas| last2 = Da Silva | first2 = Vera Maria Ferreira| last3 = Dutra | first3 = Nicole| last4 = Gravena | first4 = Waleska| last5 = Martin | first5 = Anthony R.| last6 = Farias | first6 = Izeni Pires| editor1-last = Turvey | editor1-first = Samuel T.| title = A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity| doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0083623 | journal = [[PLOS One]] | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = e83623 | date = 22 January 2014| pmid =  24465386| pmc = 3898917| bibcode = 2014PLoSO...983623H| doi-access = free}}</ref>) of the [[Tocantins River|Araguaia–Tocantins]] basin in Brazil. There are several marine dolphins whose ranges include some freshwater habitats, but these five are the only dolphins who live only in freshwater rivers and lakes.<ref name=wwf0120/>