Will the porpoise go the dolphin way?

One solution is ex-situ (off-site) conservation, in which a number of animals are isolated from the rest of the species and shifted to a safer habitat in which they can thrive. The Tian-e-zhou Oxbow Semi-natural Reserve near Shishou city in Hubei province was established as the first ex-situ reserve for dolphins more than two decades ago. Different from traditional ex-situ conservation, which involves transporting of species to an area that is not its natural environs, the habitat in Tian-e-zhou reserve is nearly the same as the Yangtze River, because it was once part of the river.

Though the Tian-e-zhou reserve was created for the Yangtze River dolphin (or baiji), five finless porpoises were moved there later. And with the support of the WWF and the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, their number has increased to more than 40. The Tian-e-zhou reserve, where two to five calves have been born each year, is proof that given the right conditions, the finless porpoise can survive.

For the porpoise number to grow, the WWF recommends that the government:

* Take urgent measures for conservation of the species in the main stream of the Yangtze, as well as Poyang and Dongting lakes, which is an extremely challenging but unavoidable task;

* Establish more ex-situ sites, especially cut off from the main stream of the Yangtze, which can serve as a protected habitat for the survival of a viable number of the marine mammals;

* Take immediate steps to identify the finless porpoise as a Level 1 species in order to ensure that the focus of conservation is on long-term viability of the porpoise.

The baiji was declared functionally extinct six years ago. It looks like its close relative, the finless porpoise, is heading in the same direction. To prevent that from happening, immediate action has to be taken. The identification of another ex-situ conservation site by the Hubei provincial government is a step in the right direction, though reviewing and preparing the site in Jianli county will take up to two years.

Since scientists have affirmed that the finless porpoise won't survive in the main stream of the Yangtze without support, collective efforts are needed to prevent another species from becoming extinct.

The author is chief executive officer of World Wide Fund For Nature-China.

(China Daily 04/19/2013 page9)