Over a hundred men rushed to save a freshwater river dolphin - an endangered species - that accidentally swam into an irrigation canal. <br /><br />The 80-kg dolphin was spotted swimming in the 80-foot wide canal at a village near Barabanki North India on February 3. <br /><br />The animal had ventured into the canal that drew water from Ghagra river about twenty kilometres away. Unable to find its way back it was thrashing restlessly. <br /><br />A team of forest officials and wildlife experts rushed to the spot and realised that they had a Herculean task ahead.<br /> <br />The dolphin was swimming in a stretch of 2 kms and it would flee if anyone approached it. <br /><br />To pin it down, officials reduced the water flow into the canal and enlisted the support of local men. <br /><br />Over hundred men got down into the canal and swept it with fishing nets from opposing directions.<br /><br />After managing to corner it, 15 men carried the animal to a waiting truck which transported it to its home in the Ghagra river.<br /><br />A rescue official said the animal was very stressed and would not have survived for long but for the timely rescue. <br /><br />Freshwater river dolphins found in parts of South Asia have been declared an endangered species.<br /><br />After the extinction of the Yangtze dolphin, the ‘Ganga’ dolphin is one of only three freshwater dolphins left in the world <br /><br />There are about 1,800 left in the Indian part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, down from about 4,500 in 1982.
