Phnom Penh - A Cambodian official Wednesday threatened to
suspend the operations of an international wildlife group after it
released a report claiming an endangered dolphin species was at risk
of extinction due to pollution in the Mekong River.
Touch Seang Tana, chairman of Cambodia's Commission for
Conversation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphins Eco-Tourism
Zone, said World Wildlife Foundation (WFF) investigators faced
suspension unless they met with him to discuss their report.
The WFF report released last week said 88 dolphins had died since
2003 and researchers had found toxic levels of pesticides and
environmental contaminants in their analysis of Irrawaddy dolphin
calves.
'This report simply is not true,' Touch Seang Tana told a press
conference. 'These findings were reported without consultation with
me, so I sent a letter to the WFF to come and meet with me to clarify
these points.'
He denied that dolphin deaths were caused by pollution and said
the report put Cambodia's burgeoning eco-tourism sector at risk.
'A few deaths have been caused by dolphins becoming trapped in
fishing nets in the Mekong River, but it was not due to pollution,'
he said. 'I wrote to the WFF to clarify this and if they do not wish
to meet with me to discuss this, then their operations in the area
could be suspended.'
The report estimated that between 64 and 76 dolphins remained in
the 160-kilometre stretch of the Mekong that runs through Laos and
Cambodia.
It said 60 per cent of the 88 deaths had occurred in dolphin
calves less than two weeks old.
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