The table of threats presented here draws from an extensive literature review, and from a 2017 consultative workshop and process for the development of WWF’s Global River Dolphin Strategy. This process involved WWF experts in river dolphin range countries, as well as experts from the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, Yayasan Konservasi RASi (Indonesia), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Omacha Foundation, and the Mamiraua Institute for Sustainable Development, Brazil. Following the identification of threats, experts* were consulted to rank them from 0 to 5, where 0 indicated the absence of the threat for that species in that country, 1= occasionally a threat, 2=currently a low level of threat with isolated incidences, 3=becoming more frequent with potential for river dolphin population impact if not controlled, 4= serious threat to the population, and 5 = presents the most severe threat to the population.
| THREAT RANKING | Irrawaddy, Cambodia | Irrawaddy dolphin (Pesut), Indonesia | Irrawaddy dolphin, Myanmar |
Ganges dolphin (Susu), India |
Ganges dolphin, Nepal | Ganges dolphin, Bangladesh | Indus dolphin, Pakistan (Bhutan) | Indus dolphin, India | Finless porpoise, China |
| 0-5, where 0= no threat and 5 =most severe | Orcaella brevirostris | Orcaella brevirostris | Orcaella brevirostris
Data gathering impacted by current challenges in Myanmar |
Platanista gangetica gangetica | Platanista gangetica gangetica | Platanista gangetica gangetica | Platanista gangetica minor | Platanista gangetica minor | Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis |
| Direct threats | |||||||||
| Deliberate killing/hunting | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fisheries/bycatch | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Illegal fishing activities (dynamite, poisoning, electrofishing) | 5 (electrofishing only) | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 (illegal and poison fishing only) | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| Vessel strikes | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Irrigation canals/pool entrapment (particularly in low flow season) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| Loss of genetic diversity | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Unknown | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
| Decline of prey species | Unknown | 4 | 1 | Unknown | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| Contamination due to (legal/ illegal) mining | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | TBC | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Poisoning due to industrial/agricultural effluents | 0 | 2 (palm oil) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Indirect threats | |||||||||
| Fragmentation or reducing flows from dams/barrages | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |
| Underwater noises (e.g. vessels, mining) | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Sand mining | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Coal, oil or gold mining | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Agriculture pollution | 1 | 4 (palm oil) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Industrial pollution | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Domestic waste | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Land Use changes/deforestation increasing silt | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| Tourism activities (disturbance to the habitat etc) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hurdles in achieving conservation outcomes | |||||||||
| Weak legislative framework | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | |
| Poor coordination between functionaries | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Inadequate capacity | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Absence of protected areas | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ineffective protected area management | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Socio-economic challenges in communities | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | |
| Lack of awareness | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||
| No government action plan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 |