River dolphins are among the world's most endangered cetaceans, facing threats from fishing bycatch, pollution, and dam construction. Their welfare is inseparable from freshwater ecosystem health.
River dolphin welfare is compromised by the full range of threats affecting freshwater ecosystems in some of the world's most densely populated river basins. Bycatch in gill nets causes drowning — dolphins must surface to breathe and cannot escape submerged nets. Propeller strikes from the dense river traffic of major waterways (the Ganges, Amazon, Mekong, Irrawaddy) cause traumatic injuries. Pollution from agricultural runoff, industrial chemicals, and plastics accumulates in the aquatic food chain and in dolphin tissues, causing endocrine disruption, immune suppression, and reproductive failure. Dam construction physically divides populations, preventing genetic exchange and seasonal access to breeding and feeding areas. As apex predators of freshwater ecosystems, river dolphin welfare reflects the overall health of rivers that billions of people also depend on — making their conservation a shared human and animal welfare interest.