Baiji Expedition 2006 Yangtze finless porpoise in the Aquarium in Wuhan
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Uploaded by BaijiFoundation on Mar 9, 2009
The Yangtze finless porpoise (YFP) is distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze from close the three Gorges Dam to the mouth at Shanghai, covering a range of about 1,650 km. There are three subspecies described, two of them marine. The YFP lacks a dorsal fin and can reach up to 170 cm.
The main threats to the YFP in the river are fisheries, pollution, water development and transportation.
In 1993 it was estimated that there were about 2'700 YFP in the river. According to a longitudinal investigation of porpoise-populated regions in the Yangtze river, the population has decreased annually by approximately 7,3% from 1989-1999.
During the expedition in 2006, covering the whole home range of baiji and finless porpoise from Yichang to Shanghai with two vessels (line transect), the survey team finally estimated about 1,200 finless porpoises remaining in the Yangtze mainstream. The Yangtze sub-population is classified by IUCN as "Endangered" (2003).
Since about 20 years, so-called ex situ conservation (meaning to take a species out of its original habitat, like an aquarium or zoo) is studied for the YFP. Two options have been undertaken: Translocating species into a semi-natural reserve (Tian-e-Zhou oxbow near the city of Shishou) and husbandry and breeding in capitivity in the Aquarium of the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan - the specimen you see here in the video!
Breeding success at both locations gives hope for succesful ex situ conservation strategies.
Videos copyright by Flowmotion Film, Florian Guthknecht
For more information, please visit www.baiji.org
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These will be the new stars in aquaria within 10-15 years- they are soooo charismatic - I have nothing against bottle-nosed dolphins , but these guys have the charisma rating of let´s say , giant pandas.
JoeDuveen 2 years ago 2
It's so sad what happened to the baiji and to think that these porpoises might have the same fate...
alcachino33 2 years ago