Ensuring winter survival for rare porpoises in east China's lake

The ecological protection officers in east China's Jiangxi Province have supplied food resources for Yangtze finless porpoises inhabiting Poyang Lake, as the country's largest freshwater lake has entered the low-water period of the year.

The Poyang Lake Aquatic Life Protection Center in Yugan County released 18,000 live bait fish, such as four major Chinese carp and crucian carp, into the gathering area of the critically endangered porpoises on Thursday.

"We released about 300 kilograms of 10-centimeter-long small fish, which are the finless porpoises' favorite food. We will replenish water and relocate the finless porpoises according to the subsequent hydrological situation to ensure that the animals will survive the winter safely," said Wan Shengben, office director of the Yugan County Poyang Lake Wetland Ecological Protection Center.

The Yangtze finless porpoises are distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin, including Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, and the mainstream of the Yangtze. Listed as a wild animal under national first-class protection, they are considered a vital indicator of the health of the Yangtze ecosystem due to their sensitivity to environmental changes.

A scientific investigation conducted in 2022 showed that the population of the Yangtze finless porpoises had rebounded to 1,249, of which about 492 were in Poyang Lake.

This autumn, Poyang Lake entered the dry season ahead of time, and the water level hovered around 8 meters after falling below the extremely dry water level line on October 9, greatly narrowing the habitat space of finless porpoises.

According to the preliminary results of research on the Yangtze finless porpoise in Poyang Lake during the dry season, the habitat of the endangered species in the lake is gradually extending its range towards the waterways in the north and south and the tributaries of the Yangtze River, such as the Xinjiang River and Ganjiang River.

(Cover: A Yangtze finless porpoise. /CFP)