Neophocaena phocaenoides | UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial
Taxa
Neophocaena phocaenoides | (G. Cuvier, 1829)
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2bc; C2a(i); D
Assessment rationale/justification
Preen (2004) reported a 71% decline in small species of dolphins in the Arabian Gulf from 1986 to 1999, which included this species. There is no information available on decline rates in the individual species, so based on the assumption that they all declined equally it appears reasonable to infer a population reduction of >50% for Neophocaena phocaenoides over the past three generations (45 years). The species, therefore, qualifies for assessment as Endangered (EN) under criterion A2bc. The reduction was due to a combination of pressures including declining habitat quality because of increasing coastal development, bycatch, collision with boats and declines in fish stocks. The decline is continuing but it is not possible to say if it is at the same rate. The species also qualifies for listing as EN under criterion C2a(i) and under criterion D as the population size is less than 250 mature individuals. The species might qualify for listing as Critically Endangered under criterion C2a(ii) if it is determined that the UAE animals are a single subpopulation. There is no rescue effect, as the species does not move that far; the species tends to be very localised in its occurrence.
Assessment year
2018
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
https://www.moccae.gov.ae/assets/download/b352eff1/UNRL%20of%20Mammals%20-%20Report%202019.pdf.aspx?view=true
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
The main threats to cetaceans in UAE waters include: incidental mortality in trawl and drift nets, depletion of prey populations (due in part to commercial overfishing); ship and boat strikes, offshore oil and gas exploration; noise from shipping, submarine sonar and oil and gas rigs. A UAE Fisheries Resource Assessment Survey in 2002 found that fish stocks in the Gulf had declined by 60%. Inshore and shallow-water species are further threatened by entanglement in abandoned fishing gear; coastal development including port and harbour construction, dredging, land reclamation, residential and tourist development; pollution (oil and hydrocarbons) and damage to feeding grounds in seagrass beds and reefs. During surveys by EAD, a large number of dolphins were observed with scars that were attributed to propeller cuts, indicating that vessel strike is a major threat to dolphin populations in Abu Dhabi waters (EAD 2015). A lack of information on most species (e.g. population size and trend, the location of critical areas, and feeding ecology) hinders the development of appropriate conservation actions.
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
History
Hornby (1996) assessed the species as Critically Endangered. It is not clear what criteria would have been used in 1996, but likely to have been assessed under criteria different than those currently applied by IUCN, and we consider Endangered to be the appropriate backcasted category in 1996 (under criteria A2bc; C2a(i); D), as it appears that Hornby was not aware of the declines in the species between 1986 and 1999 as reported by Preen (2004).
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Neophocaena phocaenoides | Animalia | Chordata | Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Phocoenidae | Neophocaena |