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only one Chance.doc

2017-09-26 7页 doc 31KB 20阅读

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only one Chance.doconly one Chance.doc only one Chance Some seven kilometers from the Wuhanbased Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the dolphinarium built to house captive Yangtze River dolphins still remains. However, 11 years have gone by since Qi...
only one Chance.doc
only one Chance.doc only one Chance Some seven kilometers from the Wuhanbased Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the dolphinarium built to house captive Yangtze River dolphins still remains. However, 11 years have gone by since Qi Qi, the world’ s only captive Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), known as the baiji in China, died on July 14, 2002. Since Qi Qi’s death, no living specimens of this unique species remained in captivity, nor have any verified sighting be made in the wild. “The Yangtze River dolphin was declared functionally extinct by scientists in 2006,” said Wang Ding, 55, a researcher with the IHB. Now, Wang and his research team are concentrating on preserving the only other cetacean found in China’s Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless porpoise. “We hope the tragic fate of the Yangtze River dolphin won’t be repeated.” Extinction After inhabiting one of China’s two main waterways for over 25 million years, the Yangtze River dolphin has become one of the more high-profile casualties of China’s economic development. Massively increased river traffic, pollution, waterside development, damming and overfishing are all believed to have been primary contributors to the species’ demise. In January 1980, a male Yangtze River dolphin was caught by a fisherman in Hunan Province and was sent to the IHB. Chinese scientists named him Qi Qi, and hoped to use the animal in an artificial breeding program. In the 1980s, it was believed that a population of around 400 Yangtze River dolphins inhabited the Yangtze River, yet most sightings in the subsequent years were of wounded or dying animals, often caught in nets. Conservation efforts came too late to save the population. In 1992, a national-level nature reserve at Tian’e Zhou (Swan Islet) was established in Hubei Province, but failed to stem the terminal decline of the tiny breeding population. Since 1997, a three-year monitoring program was launched and found 13 living Yangtze River dolphins in 1997. Only four were recorded alive in 1998. Then, a late 2006 expedition sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture(MOA) and the Switzerland-based Baiji.org Foundation failed to find a single specimen, alive or dead. At the end of the expedition, a German scientist was reluctant to disembark from the research vessel. Wang Kexiong, researcher with the IHB, said that the specialist had remarked“once we disembark, it means„ the end of a species.” Organizers declared the Yangtze River dolphin functionally extinct shortly afterward. August Pfluger, chief executive of the Baiji. org Foundation stated to the media, “The strategy of the Chinese government was a good one, but we didn’t have time to put it into action.” In 2002, after surviving for over 22 years in the IHB’s dolphinarium, Qi Qi died of old age. No female specimens had been introduced into the aquarium, making the breeding program a total failure. Following Qi Qi’s death, no human being would ever set eyes on a living specimen of this elusive cetacean again. “In the 1980s, we could easily spot Yangtze River dolphins in some areas. On one occasion, we even saw a pod of 17,” said Wang Ding. Wang, along with a few other scientists, continues to hold out hope that some surviving animals may have escaped the notice of conservationists and the scientific community. “Local fishermen keep reporting that they’ve seen live Yangtze River dolphins. While the population may not be sustainable, I feel there are definitely a few still alive,” Wang continued. New Target As conservationists gave up on their dream of saving the Yangtze River dolphin, attention was drawn to another critically endangered cetacean living in the same body of water ? the Yangtze finless porpoise. In April 2012, the carcasses of some 12 finless porpoises were found beached on the shores of Dongting Lake in Hunan Province. Soon, a new campaign was growing, fueled by media interest in the story (see:“Fished Out,” NewsChina, July 2012, Vol. 48). From November to December 2013, the MOA and the IHB jointly launched a new expedition tour along the Yangtze River, documenting 1,040 finless porpoises in the river itself, along with two populations in Dongting and Poyang lakes. According to research statistics, from 1991 to 2006, the population of Yangtze finless porpoises has declined by an annual average of 6.5 percent. In 2006, the total population stood at around 1,800 animals, and the decline accelerated to 13.7 percent that year. Without conservation, scientists estimate that this species too will be functionally extinct within 15 years. “In my opinion, we should make immediate efforts to preserve, rather than merely ‘protect’this species.” Wang Ding said. Wang is one of many scientists who oppose the idea that the only way to rescue critically endangered animals is simply to place them in captivity, reducing wild species to zoo attractions. He explained that among the three internationally acknowledged conservation strategies ? namely, in situ, ex situ and captive artificial breeding, in situ conservation is seen as the ideal. However, as with most endangered Chinese species, conservation, when it impacts on the economy, is a hard sell. “We’ve tried to visit different counties along the Yangtze River to modify fishing habits, and campaigned through various media for a tenyear fishing ban on the Yangtze River,” Wang told NewsChina. “However these attempts were not successful and now we have to resort to ex situ conservation.” Ex situ conservation relocates endangered species to areas where they are less threatened by human activity. According to Wang, the best ex situ conservation location for Yangtze finless porpoises is in waters like those in the oxbow lakes adjacent to the Yangtze proper, particularly in the Tian’e Zhou nature reserve which was set aside for their now-extinct dolphin cousins. Without any artificial interference, the waters in the Tian’ e Zhou reserve have developed into a sound ecosystem remarkably similar to that of the Yangtze, minus the pollution and human activity. Bucking the general trend, the population of finless porpoises in the reserve, a small pod of which were transplanted in the early 1990s, has grown from five to over 40 today. In 2013, Wang Ding led a group of experts from the IHB, Nanchang University and the Jiangxi Provincial Aquaculture Science Institute in the establishment of a cetacean preservation team. These biologists, zoologists and conservationists conducted investigations in Junshan Lake, Jiangxi Province and Hewangmiao Oxbow Lake straddling Hubei and Hunan provinces. Both bodies of water, larger than Tian’e Zhou, were declared suitable habitats for the Yangtze finless porpoise. Both are expected to receive their first live specimens in 2014. “For species conservation, we cannot put all our eggs in one basket,” Wang Ding told our reporter, stressing the importance of genetic diversity in guaranteeing the survival of a species. “We have communicated with local governments on related issues and they are all very supportive. The tragedy that befell the Yangtze River dolphin has added a sense of urgency.”Greater media coverage since 2012 has also helped galvanize the authorities into action, he added. “If we give up, the species has no hope. We are the last and only group of people fighting for the protection of finless porpoises.” “People easily blame us for our failure to revive the Yangtze River dolphin,” Wang Kexiong said. “But the conservation of a species is complicated, systematic work.” Dilemma Despite the attention given to wildlife conservation in the mainstream Chinese media, however, the interests of economics rarely coincide with those of the country’s myriad endangered species. For example, the proposed Hewangmiao Nature Reserve, once set up, will result in the local abandonment of fish traps, seriously threatening the livelihoods of fishermen living on or near the reserve. Government subsidies for the reserve, Wang Ding admits, would never stretch to cover compensation. Honestly speaking, as a scientist, it is true that I can “ answer questions addressing why these aquatic animals are endangered and what measures we can take to prevent them from dying,” said Wang. “But we cannot represent the government and neither can we determine the attitudes and actions of local people.” However, while opposition is undeniable, some communities have welcomed efforts to protect endangered local species. According to Wang, in November 2012 his expedition team received a warm welcome from locals in newlynamed “Finless Porpoise Bay” in Ezhou, Hubei Province. Local people there spontaneously formed a conservation team to guard their handful of porpoises. “Despite the low temperatures, people stood outside to wave us ashore.” Wang is optimistic that such grassroots support could offer an alternative to less enduring government-led initiatives. In July 2013, the Yangtze finless porpoise, the world’s only freshwater porpoise, was upgraded from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Analysis of data obtained from 279 specimens stranded on shorelines in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from 1978 onwards revealed that the population is experiencing an accelerating decline, with an 80 percent population loss predicted within three generations. Wang Ding Despite the gloomy outlook for this lone survivor, remains optimistic about the future of the Yangtze finless porpoise. “We have learned lessons from the Yangtze River dolphin and know how to preserve a dying species. If we start right now, the species could be saved.”
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