Ex situ conservation of Yangtze finless porpoises in China released to the Yangtze River for the first time.

On April 25th, four ex-situ conservation Yangtze finless porpoises from the old course of Swan Island in Hubei Province were successfully released into Xinluo and Shishou sections of the Yangtze River mainstream in batches. This is the first time that China has carried out the work of ex-situ conservation and wild release of Yangtze finless porpoise on the basis of the continuous improvement of ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin and the rapid development of ex-situ conservation population of Yangtze finless porpoise. This move is of great significance to promote the recovery of natural population of Yangtze finless porpoise and promote the development of conservation technology of Yangtze finless porpoise.

The Yangtze finless porpoise was released into the wild at the activity site. (Photo courtesy of Hubei Forestry Bureau)

The Yangtze finless porpoise (finless porpoise) is a national first-class protected wild animal. According to the scientific research on finless porpoises in the whole basin in 2022 organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the number of finless porpoises is 1,249, which is a historic turning point to stop falling and pick up compared with 1,012 in 2017. At the same time, great progress has been made in the ex-situ conservation of finless porpoises. More than 100 finless porpoises have been bred and exported to the Swan Island National Nature Reserve in Hubei Province. The continuous improvement of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin and the rapid growth of the ex situ conservation population of finless porpoises provide favorable conditions and a solid foundation for the ex situ conservation of finless porpoises. Through monitoring, the Institute of Aquatic Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that wild finless porpoises have been active in the waters near the two release points for several days, and they seem to be waiting for the four new members to "go home".

The four finless porpoises released from the wild are all from the Baiji Dolphin National Nature Reserve in Swan Island, Hubei Province. Among them, two 5-year-old male finless porpoises were released in Jiajiang waters, the old channel of the Baiji Dolphin National Nature Reserve in Xinluo section of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province. After two years of adaptive training, they basically adapted to the living environment of the natural waters of the Yangtze River. Two finless porpoises, one male and one female, aged 13 and 5, were released in Jiaozi Estuary, Shishou section of the main stream of the Yangtze River. These two finless porpoises were temporarily reared in cages. In the process of wild release, they will be fenced and isolated, and their self-feeding ability will be tracked and monitored before they are guided back to the natural waters of the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze finless porpoise was released into the wild at the activity site. (Photo courtesy of Hubei Forestry Bureau)

On the afternoon of the same day, the staff who returned to Honghu received the signal from the finless porpoise, then tracked it with a hand-held antenna and found two finless porpoises together, about 5 kilometers away.

Wang Kexiong, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "This time, in order to track the finless porpoise effectively for a longer time, the staff adjusted the working time/intermittent time of the radio signal transmitter (referred to as radio vest) worn by the finless porpoise, so as to save electricity (extend the tracking period) and reduce the size of the equipment (reduce the impact on the finless porpoise’s behavior), so the number of continuous monitoring of the finless porpoise on the water and on the land will be reduced, but the time for continuous monitoring of the finless porpoise will be greatly prolonged, which needs

Xia Zhicheng, deputy director of Hubei Forestry Bureau, said that in recent years, Hubei Forestry Bureau has continuously increased investment to support and guide relevant nature reserves to strengthen basic capacity building and improve the level of protection management; At the same time, in accordance with the requirements of "joint protection", we will closely cooperate with agricultural and rural departments and relevant scientific research institutions to push the Yangtze finless porpoise protection to a new level. In the next step, the Provincial Forestry Bureau will further strengthen its business guidance, increase investment in project funds, support relevant nature reserves to continuously improve their protection and management capabilities, help the Yangtze finless porpoise to be protected, strive to make more Yangtze finless porpoises return to the Yangtze River from ex situ conservation areas, strive to create a Hubei model of "Great Protection of the Yangtze River" and jointly create a China model for the protection of rare and endangered species. (Chen Yongsheng, Zhao Hui)