The population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the river Mekong has dwindled from 200, when the first census was taken in 1997, to just 89 in 2020 largely due to illegal fishing and habitat loss.
Conservationists have also stepped up efforts to protect the mammals -- small, shy creatures with domed foreheads and short beaks that once swam through much of the river, all the way to the delta in Vietnam. Hun Sen said Thursday he had decided to cancel the new decree because"dolphins keep dying and thousands of fishing families were affected".
"Dolphins keep entangling in gillnets despite the ban," he added, referring to nets strung across the river by fishermen."Shall we continue this? We must annul it and let people get benefits from the river," he said.