An injured baby dolphin found drowned in a rock pool off the east coast of Thailand is starting to get better, volunteers caring for it say.
The young Irrawaddy dolphin was named Paradon, which roughly translates to “brother burden”.
Irrawaddy dolphins are dark gray in color with a characteristic short beak and bulging forehead.
Paradon is still weak and in critical condition
Dolphins are found in the shallow coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia, and three rivers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia.
They are threatened by habitat loss, pollution and illegal fishing, and are considered vulnerable.
Paradon requires round-the-clock care and is being treated by dozens of veterinarians and volunteers at the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center in Rayong, Thailand.
A veterinarian caring for him said: “Normally, dolphins found stranded on the shore are in such terrible condition. Chances of these dolphins to survive are normal. usually very very thin. But we tried our best for it that day..”
The fishermen found the baby dolphin stranded on the shore on July 23. He has an infection and is too weak to swim.
He was put in a pool filled with seawater and given medical treatment, with volunteers taking turns keeping him in the water so he wouldn’t drown.
A volunteer at the center said: “He can’t eat all, but just wants to play. I worry that he is not getting enough nutrition. When you invest time, physical, mental and money to come here to have sex. volunteer. , of course, you wish that he would thrive and last.”
Paradon can now swim but is still weak and is still in critical condition.
The baby is also not drinking enough milk even though the team tries to feed him every 20 minutes.
Volunteers said it was hard not to let the tiny calf grow, with its round face and upturned mouth.
Baby dolphins don’t have enough milk
Sumana Kajonwattanakul, director of the center, said the baby will need long-term care.
It can take up to a year to wean him and teach him to hunt for his own food.
She said: “If we release it when it gets better, the problem is it won’t be able to produce milk. We’ll have to take care of it until it’s teething, then we have to train it to eat fish,” she said. . and be part of a group. This will take quite a while.”
The team hopes that taking care of Paradon will help them learn more about his species’ recovery process.
One volunteer said: “If we can save him and he survives, we will learn a lot from this. Second, I think that by saving him, give him a gift. life chances, we are also raising awareness about the conservation of these animals as they are inherently rare and not many of them are left.”
Officials from the center believe there are only about 400 Irrawaddy dolphins left on Thailand’s east coast.
