Asian dolphins close to extinction: Report

The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced on Tuesday that the number of Irrawaddy dolphin and finless porpoise, residing in Asian waters have considerably dropped, moving to the "endangered" category from "vulnerable".

According to the Red List of threatened species, theAustralia's western ringtail possum has also moved from "vulnerable" to the "critically endangered" category.

"In the Mekong River, for example, the majority of Irrawaddy dolphin deaths in recent years have been caused by entanglement in gill nets. These nets hang like curtains of deaths across the river," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the group's Red List unit said.

Currently there perhaps less than 70 Irrawaddy dolphin alive in the Mekon river.

The decline in number comes as the number of Irrawaddy dolphin's halved in the last 60 years. The finless porpoise has also halved in the last 45 years, the group declared.

TheIrrawaddy dolphin usually occurs in Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam.

The finless porpoise is mostly found incoastalwatersSoutheastand East Asia, Yangtze River and its adjacent lake systems, according to sources.

"These species live in shallow waters near shore and both have populations confined to freshwater systems, and that makes them extremely vulnerable to human activities. The threats pushing species to extinction come from us, from humans ... This also means that we can do something about it" Taylor said.

Dueto Australia's dry and humid climate, it has lead to the massive decline in the western ringtail possums of more than 80% in the last 10 years.