Chinese police look into man seen taking stranded dolphin from beach

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Video footage of a man shouldering a dolphin-like creature on a beach has recently been circulating on China’s Twitter-like social media platform, Weibo. Local authorities said the man could face punishment.

In the footage, a man in swimming shorts is seen walking on the beach with a black-skinned aquatic animal on his shoulder.

According to netizens, the incident happened on a beach on Hailing Island, a popular tourist attraction in the city of Yangjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province on Tuesday, on the last day of China’s three-day Labor Day holiday.

Witnesses told staff members of the Guangdong Fishery Law Enforcement department that the man later put the animal in a car and drove off. However, no one noticed the plate number.

Witnesses also said the animal was found dead with wounds on its body, probably washed ashore.

The department is now carrying on an investigation with help from local police into the whereabouts of the man.

It also issued a report online, reminding people that – dead or alive – dolphins are protected animals in China and it's wrong to take a dolphin from its natural habitat. Instead, anyone who finds a stranded dolphin should inform authorities.

A similar incident happened in Guangdong Province last month, when netizens reported the butchering of an aquatic animal alleged to be a baby Chinese white dolphin.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the most threatened dolphins are the Baiji, or Chinese river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) – which is critically endangered – and the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis), which is near threatened.

File photo shows the Chinese river dolphin (L) and Chinese white dolphins (R). /VCG Photo

(Top image via Weibo)