AN elderly female Irrawaddy dolphin, estimated to weigh 240 kilogrammes, was found dead in Kratie province late last week. The rare 2.3-metre-long animal was found floating in the Mekong near Kampi resort in Chet Borei district on Friday. Touch Seang Tana, chairman of Cambodia’s Commission for Mekong Dolphin Conservation, said yesterday that the mammal, which he described as “old and fat”, could have died after being caught in a fishing net. Disease, however, also had to be considered. In 2007, a joint study partly backed by the Worldwide Wildlife Fund estimated that there were 71 dolphins in the area. The Cambodian commission is due to survey the population again this year.