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[Copyright of the photo on the left belongs to "François-Xavier Pelletier WWF Canon"]
The Indus river dolphins are a sub-species of the river dolphins or fresh water dolphins and are located in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. They have long, pointed snouts, a long beak and a stocky body and a distinct low triangular hump on its back.It is grayish brown in colour and some Indus River dolphins also have a pink belly. The Indus River dolphin measures between 1.5 to 2.5 metres in length and weighs 80-90 kilograms.
It feeds mostly on several species of fish and invertebrates like shrimp, fish, carp and catfish. Mature adult females are larger than adult males and can live up to 30 years old.
The Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor) is one of the world's rarest mammals and the second most endangered freshwater river dolphin. The Indus River dolphin swims on its side, at times enabling it to move in water as shallow as 30 cm. As it swims on its side, it trails a flipper along the bottom of the river.. This unique side swimming behaviour is not consistently seen in any other dolphin, except the Ganges River dolphin.