A rare dolphin has been found dead in Myanmar's Ayeyarwady River conservation area, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

A fisherman found the dead female dolphin floating in the waters between Mandalay and Kyaukmyaung with a stone tied to its tail on Tuesday.

Reported on the case, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said the dolphin might have died after getting caught in a fishing net and the string found tied to its tail is normally used in fishing nets, assuming that someone tried to sink the dolphin's carcass after it died.

The dolphin measures about 2 meters in length and 1.2 meters in circumference.

According to the WCS, the population of dolphin in Ayeyarwady stands at 76 with 26 scattered between Mandalay and Kyaukmyaung areas, 37 between Male village and Shweku and 13 between Hsinkhan and Bhamao.

The dolphin conservation area was expanded in August to include the 100-km-long stretch of water from Katha township in northwestern Sagaing region to Shwegu township in northernmost Kachin state.