15,000 Fish Released Into Dez River

Environment officials and volunteers released 15,000 fish bred in tanks into Dez River in Khuzestan Province over the weekend to increase the population of shabout and carp. Officials from Dezful Municipality, the provincial Department of Environment and members of local NGOs attended the event when 10,000 shabout and 5,000 common carps were released into the river, Mehr News Agency reported.  Dez River is a tributary of Karoun River and is 400 km long. It is a major river in Khuzestan, which originates in the central Zagros Mountain Range and flows into the Karoun at about 100 km south of Dezful. Besides fish species, the river is home to marine mammals, namely the Eurasian otter, and marine reptiles, such as the Caspian turtle and the endangered Euphrates soft-shell turtle.