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WHEN the "bai ji", or white Yangtze River dolphin, was declaredfunctionally extinct in 2007, the last surviving mammal in theYangtze River became the finless porpoise (jiang tun), fondly knownas the river pig because of its rotund appearance. Now the river pig, once revered as a river god and predictor ofweather and guide to good fishing, is on the verge of extinction. The urgency of the problem has been highlighted by the discovery of10 dead mammals, commonly called river dolphins, since March 3 inDongting Lake, according to the Fishery Affairs Management Station(FAMS) of the Animal Husbandry and Aquatic Products Bureau ofHunan's Yueyang City. Another six have been reported dead since the beginning of thisyear in east China's Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, according tothe provincial fishery bureau. The discovery and disturbing photos of dead mammals, including anunborn fetus, caused public indignation and demands for thegovernment to act. Last weekend the provincial government said itwould relocate the dolphins to a safe part of the lake, China'ssecond largest. No one knows when that will begin and time is running out for thedolphins. Today only around a thousand live in the Yangtze River basin,including around 80 in Dongting Lake and some in Poyang Lake,China's largest freshwater lake, in Jiangxi Province. Chinesescientists say they will be extinct in around 15 years, decreasingby 5-6 percent a year. Initial postmortem findings indicated that the animals had noteaten in a long time, and at least two were starving, signalinghabitat damage and lack of food. One female was pregnant and oneanimal had been severely injured by a boat's propeller. The common causes of endangerment are human activity: fishing withdynamite and electric current, draining of habitat, dredging, rivertraffic, and pollution that includes toxic industrial discharge. The river pig has long been considered a signal of coming stormsbecause it makes small repeated leaps in the air, known as"saluting the wind" by fishermen. They know it's time to tie uptheir boats. The appearance of the finless porpoise, also signalsgood fishing sites. Since 2006 scientists have been unable to find any trace of the"bai ji," the white Yangtze River dolphin, a species with fins. In2007 the 25-million-year-old species was declared functionallyextinct. Human activity has so degraded the environment that the dolphins ofany kind cannot survive long in Chinese rivers and lakes.Freshwater dolphins are rare anywhere in the world. The river dolphin, also around 25 million years old, looks similarto a sea dolphin, but it's darker gray in color and lacks a dorsalfin. Adult males can be almost 2 meters long and weigh as much as220 kg - but these dolphins were hungry and sickly. The mammal is highly intelligent and is said to have an EQ as highas that of a chimpanzee. Like other dolphins and porpoises itappears to have a "smiling" expression and is friendly by nature.But they don't have anything to smile about anymore. Biologist Wang Kexiong, with the Institute of Hydrobiology underthe Chinese Academy of Sciences, blamed the deaths in general onincreasingly busy shipping, uncurbed fishing, water pollution andother human activities. He has been monitoring the Yangtze Riverdolphin for years and took part in the postmortem exams of two ofthe dead dolphins from Dongting Lake. The exams showed there was no residue of food in their digestivesystems, suggesting they had struggled to find food long beforethey actually died. One was carrying a nine-month-old fetus, twomonths short of term. A photo posted online showed the fetus partlyexposed after falling out of the mother's body, both lying inrubbish on a lake bank. People who saw the photo said they wereheartbroken. "It's devastating to witness such a smart animal with an angel'ssmile dying in such a painful way," commented one Internet user onSina weibo. Biologist Wang also discovered a fish inside the mouth of anotherdead dolphin. One suggestion is that the starving animal finallycaught a fish but was too weak to eat it. Another suggestion isthat the dolphin was the victim of banned fishing with electriccurrent in which whole areas of the lake are electrified so fishare electrocuted. In that case both the fish and dolphin wereelectrocuted. Electrocution Though this method is banned, as is use of dynamite, some fishermenstill electrify the water, netting the big fish and leave smallerelectrocuted fish behind. This damages the fish stock because youngfish cannot survive, in contrast to traditional fishing methods inwhich small fish slip through the net mesh. Industrial pollution and pesticide runoff is also killing fish andthe plants they feed on, thus, the dolphins at the top of the foodchain don't have enough fish to feed on. Ships pose another danger since engine noise from shipping trafficcan overwhelm dolphins' sonar system, causing them to lose theirbearings and collide with ships or run aground. One of the two dead dolphins examined had suffered a deep propellercut in its head. Unlicensed sand dredging is rampant, damaging riverbeds andnarrowing the dolphin's living environment. He Daming was a fisherman for more than 30 years and is now one ofthe volunteers trying to protect the dolphins. River dolphins need to breathe fresh air through their lungs whenthe air pressure falls ahead of a major storm. So when the dolphinsmake frequent appearances and jump out of the water, it's a warningsign that a storm is on the way and fishermen head home. "They were called the God of the River by our ancestors," theex-fisherman said. He and 10 other volunteers patrol the lake by boat three or fourtimes a day. They look for signs of dolphins, rescue injured orgrounded animals and try to persuade people to halt harmful fishingand sand dredging. But they have no enforcement powers and most people won't haltearning an illegal livelihood for the sake of dolphins. Sovolunteers can only report violations to wildlife officials. In 2000, Yueyang City, where Dongting Lake is located, applied tothe Hunan provincial government to declare the lake a protectedhabitat for dolphins. Approval would have meant continuous fundingand crackdowns on illegal fishing and dredging. Nothing has happened for the past 12 years, mostly for bureaucraticreasons. Meantime, the dolphins have been dying. Early this year, the government erected a stone marker sayingdolphins are a protected lake species. "But it's only a stone tablet, that's all," said a frustratedvolunteer, saying volunteers' efforts were limited because fundingwas limited. So far there is no effective official campaign to save thedolphins. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Rexroth Hydraulic Valves , China Hydraulic Orbit Motor for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Hydraulic Gear Pumps.
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