Posted on 23 April 2011
- Shishou, China – Two finless porpoises
were released into the Tian-e-zhou Oxbow
nature reserve today, marking the first
step in the conservation of this rare species.
The Yangtze finless porpoise, also known
as the “Yangtze Mermaid”, lives exclusively
in the Yangtze River and its neighbouring
rivers and lakes.
The two finless porpoises
– one born in captivity in 2005 and the
other injured in a severe snow storm in
2008 – will be tagged for intense monitoring
and research by the Institute of Hydrobiology,
the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and
Tian-e-Zhou Oxbow Nature Reserve, an area
of wetland in the Yangtze basin near Shishou
city and a sanctuary for the Yangtze river
dolphin.
“After the release,
we will keep monitoring the behaviour, acoustic
status and health condition of the finless
porpoises and acquiring their growth data,
ultimately helping them adapt to the wild
environment,” said Li Min Wang, Deputy Director
of Conservation Operations at WWF-China.
Soft release
To prepare the finless porpoises for their
eventual release into the wild, slated to
be in a few months time, the pair have experienced
a “soft release” into a 10,000m2 area of
the nature reserve surrounded by a temporary
fence. They will be trained in catching
live fish, learn how to protect themselves
against predators and live in a simulated
wild Yangtze environment.
There were an estimated
1800 finless porpoise swimming in the Yangtze
in 2006, a figure that has since declined
at an average annual rate of 5% and has
moved them from “endangered” to “critically
endangered” on the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
While this is the first time for such intense
monitoring of captive-bred finless porpoises
it’s hoped that it will pave the way for
similar repopulation efforts in the future.
“If soft releases are
proven to be successful, we will have a
better chance to save the Yangtze finless
porpoise and other freshwater dolphins worldwide
which are under great threats at the moment
too,” said Dr. Li Lifeng, Director of WWF
International Freshwater Programme.
Yangtze finless porpoise
conservation
The Yangtze finless porpoise is the only
identified freshwater subspecies of Phocoenidae
in the world. This small cetacean is only
found in the middle and lower reaches of
the Yangtze River and some of its adjacent
rivers and lakes.
Since 1992, WWF, Tian-e-Zhou
Oxbow Nature Reserve and the Chinese Academy
of Science’s Institute of Hydrobiology in
Hubei Province have carried out a series
of conservation programs by leveraging all
the beneficial conditions in the oxbow.
Meanwhile, HSBC has offered a great deal
of support to conservation projects in the
area since 2002.
As of 2010, the population
of finless porpoise in the nature reserve
exceeded 30, with two to five calves born
every year.
