Conservation status:

Extinction

            Extinct

            Extinct in the wild

Threatened

            Critically endangered

            Endangered

            Vulnerable

            Threatened

Lower risk

            Conservation dependent

            Near threatened

            Least concern

            Domesticated

Data deficient

(according to IUCN)

---

The Commerson's dolphin was killed for their meat and oil in the beginning of the 20^th century. In the 1970s and 80s, they were used as bait for lobsters by Argentinean and Chilean fishermen. Moreover in this period, this species was captured for several aquaria. Today, the proximity of the dolphin to the shore makes accidental killing in gillnets a common occurrence.

In Argentina, this dolphin is protected in the Natural Reserve of Puerto Deseado and by the international conventions of ‘Migrating species of wild Fauna’ and ‘Marine Antarctic Living Resources’. This species is listed in the Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), the IUCN (World Conservation Union) lists them as ‘data deficient’ and the ‘Red Book’ of Argentina (SAREM - Argentine Association for the Study of Mammals) lists them as ‘least concern’ and ‘conservation dependent’.

Back

---