River dolphins are among the most endangered cetaceans. Pollution, bycatch, dams, and river degradation impose both population-level and individual welfare harms.
River dolphin welfare is affected by a suite of threats that cause direct individual suffering including bycatch entanglement, boat strike, and pollution-related illness. Bycatch entanglement in gill nets causes drowning as air-breathing cetaceans cannot surface — a welfare emergency for individual animals and a serious conservation threat. Chemical pollution from agricultural runoff, mercury from gold mining, and industrial discharge accumulate in tissues, causing health impacts including reproductive failure and neurological damage. Noise pollution from boat traffic interferes with echolocation in species that depend entirely on acoustic navigation. Conservation programs must address these multiple threats simultaneously. Community-based fisheries management that reduces gill net use in core dolphin habitat represents one of the most effective intervention strategies.