According to the latest news from the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, after continuous tracking and monitoring, the four ex-situ protected finless porpoises released into the main stream of the Yangtze River in April this year are currently in good condition.
In recent years, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with relevant partners, has developed technology and equipment for monitoring the population of small toothed whales such as the Yangtze finless porpoise with sound and light fusion, which has realized the distribution of the Yangtze finless porpoise, real-time dynamic monitoring and early warning of human activity risks in the target watersIn addition, the intelligent monitoring and early warning management system of aquatic life reserves has also been developed, which uses the first generation model and has been successfully applied in cetacean reserves such as Poyang Lake, Nanjing, and Pearl River Estuary, and is expected to be put into use in Hubei in the future.
Mei Zhigang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "For example, our cameras, our drones, or our management personnel can automatically command these optical devices to shoot at them, and the drones can patrol it in a large area." ”
Since 1987, China has established 10 protected areas, covering about 30-40% of the water area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and guarding 60-70% of the entire population of the Yangtze finless porpoise. Therefore, it is particularly important to improve the rescue capacity of finless porpoise and the management system capacity of each protected area. According to the 2022 survey, the wild population of the Yangtze finless porpoise is 1,249, which is the first time in history that the decline has stopped, but the overall situation of finless porpoise protection is still grim.
Wang Ding, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: "After all, there are only more than 1,000 finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, and they are still in a critically endangered state. ”
Recently, at the Finless Porpoise Conservation Symposium in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River held in Shishou, Jingzhou, experts and scholars from four nature reserves and scientific research institutes in Hunan and Hubei provinces issued an initiative to establish the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Conservation Area Alliance, calling for strengthening regional cooperation to provide good habitats for wild populationsIt is recommended that ex-situ conservation areas require human intervention to adjust the structure, species and quantity of fish resources to ensure that the finless porpoise has no worries about food and clothing.
Deng Xiaojun, deputy secretary-general of the Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Conservation Association: "I hope to advocate and appeal that in the future, all 10 dolphin reserves in the entire Yangtze River basin can establish relevant alliances or network members to jointly promote the protection of our Yangtze finless porpoise, so that more members of the public and social forces can participate in our finless porpoise conservation actions." ”
Changjiangyun News reporter He Jin, Jingzhou Station, Xu Huanhuan, Lu Yan, editor, Fan Li, Xie Baoying).