Ganges Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle ("Chitra indica"), Indian softshell turtle ("Nilssonia gangetica"), Indian peacock softshell turtle ("N. hurum") and Cantor's giant softshell turtle ("Pelochelys cantorii"; only in the lowermost section of Ganges basin). Most of these are seriously threatened. The river's most famed fauna is the freshwater Ganges river dolphin ("Platanista gangetica gangetica"), which has been declared India's national aquatic animal. This dolphin used to exist in large schools near to urban centres in both the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, but is now seriously threatened by pollution and dam construction. Their numbers have now dwindled to a quarter of their numbers
Endangered Species Act of 1973 endangered species. That meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in February, 1973 and produced the comprehensive multilateral treaty known as CITES or Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. President Richard Nixon declared current species conservation efforts to be inadequate and called on the 93rd United States Congress to pass comprehensive endangered species legislation. Congress responded with a completely rewritten law, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which was signed by Nixon on December 28, 1973 (). It was written by a team of lawyers and scientists, including Dr. Russell E. Train, the first appointed