- Myanmar to allow tourists through Kayin border
- Peninsula group to open hotel in Yangon
- French firm to invest in Myanmar’s tourism industry
- Japanese business travellers flock to Myanmar
- Tourists to Inle region surge 50 percent
- Inle floating market nearly disappearing
- Mandalay to build 20 hotels providing over 1400 rooms
- More passports issued in this summer
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- Discovering traditional water festival in Myanmar
Irrawaddy dolphins return to Mingun after 10-year absence
Published on Monday, 04 February 2013 13:27
A group of dolphins seen in the Ayeyarwady River
Tourists can now see Irrawaddy dolphins in the Ayeyarwady River near Mingun town as a group of the rare and endangered species has migrated into the area in Sagaing Region, according to Irrawaddy Dolphin Protection.
“About 18 Irrawaddy dolphins migrated to the area near Mingun [last month],” said Han Win, head of the agency.
“Most of the time, they are found in the river near Madaya and Wetlet townships, in the middle of the protected area; but, remarkably, they migrated to Sagaing-Mingun this year,” he said.
Han Win said the groups of dolphins near Mingun comprised five or six dolphins each. The migration could be the result of falling water levels or the migration of fish, the dolphin’s main food source, from downstream, he said.
The government established the Irrawaddy Dolphin Protected Area in 2005. Small groups of dolphins inhabit the 74-kilometer protected area in the Ayeyarwady River between Mingun and Kyaukmyaung, but it has been a decade since they were last seen near Mingun.