A new report by conservation groups finds that many fish species in the Mekong River are threatened with extinction.
The Mekong River is nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) long, making it the twelfth longest river on Earth. The Mekong runs through six countries. Its headwaters are in China. From there, the Mekong passes through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, finally emptying into the ocean.
Humans depend on the Mekong River. The Mekong supports 60 million people, who use it for drinking water, to water their crops, and also to catch fish to eat.
But fishes and other species, like dolphins, depend on the Mekong too. The Mekong River is home to over 1000 fish species, making it one of the most diverse rivers on Earth for fishes. These fishes include eels, pufferfish, catfish, toothy fish, and the world’s most massive freshwater fish, a giant stingray! New fish species that are unknown to science are found and discovered often in the Mekong. Scientists think that there may be almost 2000 fish species in the river. (Meet some amazing Mekong fishes here.)
Unfortunately the many fishes of the Mekong River are at risk from human activity such as overfishing, invasive species, hydropower dams, and sand mining. Nearly a fifth of the known fishes in the Mekong are threatened with extinction. This information comes from a report by 25 conservation organizations called “The Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes.”
However the conservation groups who wrote the report are hopeful that there are solutions. The solutions focus on letting the Mekong River flow more naturally by removing dams and other barriers that may no longer be needed. People also need to work on improving the Mekong’s water quality, and protecting and restoring critical habitats and species.
David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids Wild News. It is based on an article by Anton L. Delgado, published on Mongabay News. For more details, visit:
