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 1969 Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1969 was largely an expansion of the Lacey Act of 1900. In 1969, it was amended to protect species beyond game and wild birds. It granted protection to amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, and crustaceans, groups previously unprotected by any U.S. law. It also expanded the maximum punishment for poaching to a possible $10,000 and up to a year of jail time. In addition, it established two lists into which endangered species could be sorted, foreign and domestic. The act then allowed for species on the domestic list to be given extra protection by United States agencies