China's Yangtze Finless Porpoise
China's Yangtze finless porpoise is the only porpoise in the world that lives in freshwater. It occurs in the same sections of the Yangtze River as the baiji and faces the same range of environmental threats. The porpoise is less critically endangered than the baiji at present however due to environmental degradation of the Yangtze River there is extreme concern about its long-term prospects for survival.
 Yangtze finless porpoise: The world's only species of freshwater porpoise. |
Yangtze finless porpoise: The world's only species of freshwater porpoise.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN meaning it is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Chinese authorities are presently upgrading its status from the Second to First Order of Protected Animals in China. This will result in the species receiving full legal protection.
Surveys during the late 1980s indicated that there were approximately 2700 finless porpoises in the Yangtze River. However the most recent data indicates that there are now less than 2000 animals remaining and that the population is declining at a rate of about 7% per year. The reasons for the decline are assumed to include mortality from entanglement in fishing gear, electro fishing, vessel strikes, construction blasting and habitat degradation due to water development, industrial pollution, over fishing and construction activities.
The porpoise population is higher than the baiji, however Chinese scientists believe that environmental conditions in the Yangtze River are so poor that without effective conservation the finless porpoise may soon also be faced with imminent extinction. Due to its larger population size the chances for survival of the finless porpoise in the wild are greater than those for the baiji. Both in-situ and ex-situ strategies for conservation of the Yangtze Finless porpoise have been suggested, however primarily ex-situ conservation has been implemented. There are presently 25 porpoises in the Shishou semi-natural reserve and 6 in the Tongling semi-natural reserve. They are reported to be healthy and the population is reproducing.
