The remnant population of Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphins is Critically Endangered. WWF Cambodia has conducted photographic-identification surveys of these dolphins since 2007. The number of remaining individuals is believed to be fewer than 100 and declining year-by-year. Accurate, near-real-time estimates of abundance and survivorship are needed to properly assess the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

During this project, the Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) will standardize and enter the sighting and photo-ID data into the Mekong River FinBase from 2020-2023 surveys to establish a high-quality database and photo-ID catalog. This will make the data easily available for use in capture-mark-recapture models to assess trends in the population’s size and survivorship that can be used to assess conservation efforts to date, and to help engender support for additional conservation action.