8 rare porpoises relocated to reserves along Yangtze River
Print Edition
A PROJECT began yesterday to relocate the Yangtze River’s finless porpoises, as the critically endangered species’ natural habitat is threatened by pollution, overfishing and river traffic.
There are only around 1,000 finless porpoises, a dolphin-like freshwater mammal, in the Yangtze River and two lakes that are linked to the busy waterway.
Yesterday, eight porpoises from Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province were placed in metal containers filled with water and taken by bus to two reserves in Hubei Province.
The relocation project was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and three provincial governments.
“Our plan is to move them into waters free of human activities, so they can flourish,” said Zhao Yimin, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Many porpoises have been found in recent years to be wounded or killed as a result of starvation, pollution-induced disease or encounters with ship propellers.
Experts worry that conservation efforts focusing on the Yangtze River will be too little too late, as the river faces increasing environmental and transportation pressure from the rapid economic development in the region.
“The Yangtze is full of dangers for the porpoises and human activity is set to increase. The only way to prevent the species from dying out is to place them in new reserves,” said Cao Wenxian with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The two reserves — Hewangmiao and Tian’ezhou — are located in old and traffic-free sections of the Yangtze River.
There are plans for more reserves to be established in the river’s middle and lower reaches, said vice agricultural minister Yu Kangzhen.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
