Tell New Zealand to protect endangered dolphins

After nearly 3 years of WWF campaigning, the New Zealand government has now finally issued its draft threat management plan for Hector's and Maui's dolphins.

But in a worrying move, even the strongest of the 3 options in the draft plan falls well short of what WWF and Hector's dolphin scientists believe is necessary to save the dolphins from extinction, and allow them to recover.

Some background:

Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins live around the shores of Aotearoa/New Zealand and are amongst the rarest marine dolphins in the world. But unless urgent action is taken these amazing creatures could become extinct within a generation. Scientists estimate over 26,000 Hector's dolphins inhabited the coastal waters of New Zealand's South Island in the 1970s. But today, there is a struggling population of a little over 7,000. Instead of ranging throughout South Island's waters, Hector's dolphins are now isolated in just a few small groups – and these groups are becoming fewer and further apart. Maui's dolphins, the North Island cousin of Hector's dolphin, fare even worse and are now critically endangered with a population of just 110. Without immediate protection, WWF fears Maui's may become extinct within the next 25 years.

Unless we act now to protect them, Hector's and Maui's will lose their fight for survival.

The biggest threat to Hector's and Maui's is from commercial and recreational fishing. The dolphins are unable to detect set nets - fixed nets that are held on or off shore with anchors – and, if they become entangled, they drown within minutes. They are also accidentally caught by commercial fishing vessels. Add to this the disturbances to their habitat from tourism, polluted waters, coastal development and boat traffic, and survival for one of the world's rarest marine dolphins is a daily battle.

But there is hope. By taking the necessary action and removing all human threats New Zealand can give the dolphins their best chance of survival. Failure to do so could mean we will lose these enigmatic animals forever.

More info and a links to sign the petion are on the WWF-NZ site at

http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/campaign.cfm?uNC=56293188&uCampaignId=1561

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-10-14