A captive finless porpoise swims in an aquarium in the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, Hubei province, in 2016. (Photo/Xinhua)
(ECNS) - A survey has found 1,012 Yangtze finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, Yu Kangzhen, vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The finless porpoise, a dolphin-like mammal with an iconic "grin" on its face, has three subspecies in the Yangtze River along with the Bohai, Yellow and South China seas.
The endangered species, sometimes nicknamed the "giant panda of the water", tends to concentrate in river sections less disturbed by humans, and its population distribution is increasingly fragmented, said Yu.
There are about 110 Yangtze finless porpoises in Dongting Lake and 457 in Poyang Lake. They are widely distributed in the two lakes during the rainy season, but mainly in river channels and large sandpits in dry seasons.
Poyang Lake has the highest density of wild finless porpoises followed by Dongting Lake as the two lakes are its most important habitats, said Yu.
The study showed that the number of the species is no longer in decline but it is still extremely endangered.
The ministry has carried out a series of measures to curb the rapid decline of the freshwater animal such as establishing eight nature reserves in the main river and two lakes, setting aside four conservation areas for their relocation, and conducting lab research and breeding programs.
