Sick, Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin Calf Improves With Tube-Fed Milk And Lots Of Helping Hands

Irrawaddy dolphins, considered a vulnerable species by International Union for Conservation of Nature, are found in the shallow coastal waters of South and Southeast Asia and in three rivers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia. Volunteer Tosapol Prayoonsuk feeds a baby dolphin nicknamed Paradon with milk at the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Center in Rayong province in eastern Thailand, Friday.

Workers placed him in a seawater pool, treated the lung infection that made him so sick and weak, and enlisted volunteers to watch him round the clock. They have to hold him up in his tank to prevent him from drowning and feed him milk, initially done by tube, and later by bottle when he had recovered a bit of strength. A staff veterinarian and one or two volunteers stay for each eight-hour shift, and other workers during the day handle the water pump and filter and making milk for the calf.