🐬
🏷️
Classification
Mammal
🍽️
Diet
Piscivore
⏱️
Lifespan
30–50 years
⚖️
Weight
90–200 kg
Population Trend
📉Decreasing
Description
The Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a mammal indigenous to Cambodia. It inhabits freshwater and brackish rivers, estuaries, and coastal areas.
Habitat
🌿 freshwater and brackish rivers🌿 estuaries🌿 and coastal areas
Extended Data
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Cetartiodactyla
Family
Delphinidae
Genus
Orcaella
Fun Facts
1
Unlike most dolphins, they lack a pronounced beak and have a rounded forehead — more closely related to killer whales than oceanic dolphins
2
The Mekong population between Cambodia and Laos is critically isolated with only about 92 individuals remaining
3
They can spit water to herd fish — a cooperative hunting technique rarely seen in other dolphin species
4
In Cambodian culture, the Irrawaddy dolphin is considered sacred and believed to bring good fortune to fishermen
5
They are among the few dolphin species that can survive in freshwater for their entire lives