# Bihar fisherman booked for killing Gangetic dolphin in Kosi River 2026-08-26T20:36:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A fisherman has been booked for allegedly killing a Gangetic dolphin in Bihar's Kosi River. The dolphin, a critically endangered species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, was found dead on a riverbank in Supaul district. Police said the fisherman caught the dolphin and planned to extract oil from it. After being warned by locals that the act was illegal, he abandoned the carcass and fled. A case has been registered under relevant wildlife laws. The Gangetic dolphin is India's national aquatic animal and is listed on Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, which grants it the highest level of legal protection. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Gangetic dolphin is one of the few freshwater dolphin species in the world and is found only in the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. Its population in Bihar has been declining due to poaching, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, and river pollution. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, prescribes a jail term of up to seven years for killing a Schedule I animal. Despite such provisions, enforcement along remote stretches of the Kosi remains weak. The Forest Department now faces the task of building a case that can withstand scrutiny in court while also deterring others who may see dolphin oil, falsely believed to have medicinal properties, as a lucrative catch. ## Coverage - ndtv.com Straight news agency style report without any slant or editorialising. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bihar, forest department, Gangetic dolphin, Kosi River, wildlife protection act Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bihar-fisherman-booked-for-killing-gangetic-dolphin-in-kosi-river/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bihar-fisherman-booked-for-killing-gangetic-dolphin-in-kosi-river/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/