NEW DELHI – Police arrested three people in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Friday for beating an endangered dolphin to death with an axe.
In a video shared widely in the Indian press, a group of men are shown beating the Gangetic dolphin with sticks and rods before one of them drives an axe into its body.
“The incident happened on Dec. 31 and we have arrested three people in connection with the assault,” policeman Dinesh Prasad told AFP.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are only between 1,200 and 1,800 of the endangered species left in the world.
Prasad said the motive for killing the marine mammal, which is also known as the Ganges River dolphin, remained unclear. (AFP)
