The biggest survival crisis of finless porpoises is to ＂starve＂ 1 million fry and release them into the Yangtze River.
On May 24 this year, a newborn finless porpoise cub was separated from its mother and ran aground on the beach. Its fate touched the hearts of countless Nanjing people. But after 18 hours of emergency rescue, the "smiling angel" left us. "Even with artificial assistance, it is still difficult for cubs who leave their mothers to survive." Professor Yang Guang, Dean of the School of Life Sciences of Nanjing Normal University, told a cruel truth: the fate of this little finless porpoise may have been doomed. He believes that the only way to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy is to improve the ecological environment of the Yangtze River in all aspects, one of which is to restore the bait resources and prevent the finless porpoise from starving.
Yesterday morning in Nanjing Jiangbin Park, all the 1 million fry subscribed by deji plaza were put into the Yangtze River. The reporter learned that this is the first time in China that an enterprise has initiated a release activity for the protection of finless porpoises.
Intern Xu Linchen Yangzi Evening News All-Media Reporter Zhang Ke
A rescue that was doomed from the beginning.
The latest hot event about the finless porpoise was the "beaching incident of finless porpoise cubs" in Nanjing at the end of last month. This little finless porpoise was found by the public on the river beach of Yanziji Wharf at 4 pm that day. It was born about two or three days ago, but it hasn’t opened its eyes yet, and its breath is weak. At that time, the people involved in the rescue contacted the experts of Nanjing Underwater World, and on the other hand, the water police drove speedboats to patrol the river to find the trace of the female finless porpoise. "The finless porpoise is a mammal, and the newborn calf must be with its mother. This little finless porpoise must have been separated from its mother when it appeared alone, and the mother finless porpoise is likely to come back to find the child." Jiang Meng, secretary-general of the Nanjing finless porpoise protection association who participated in the rescue at that time, said.
Until 8 o’clock in the evening, the female finless porpoise was still not found, and the little finless porpoise was forced to transfer to the underwater world for treatment. Regrettably, at 10 o’clock the next morning, the little finless porpoise died unfortunately before he opened his eyes to see the world. At that time, Jiang Meng waited all night in the underwater world and witnessed the whole process. He told the Yangzi Evening News reporter that the finless porpoise was once in good condition and could eat and breathe with artificial assistance. "But in the end, it was short of breath and emotional anxiety, and experts took various emergency measures. All have no effect." Jiang Meng said.
The finless porpoise is a clever but fragile creature. Its intelligence is close to that of gorillas, and it knows how to hunt and prey collectively. However, the underage or newborn finless porpoise has almost no ability to live independently. Professor Yang Guang, dean of the School of Life Sciences of Nanjing Normal University, told the Yangzi Evening News reporter that the cub can’t eat and prey independently without its mother, and it must rely on breast milk for nutrition. "About half a year after birth, cubs can learn to live independently."
The Yangzi Evening News reporter learned that the adult finless porpoise had survived under artificial rescue, but the cubs have not been successfully rescued so far. "The finless porpoise is too sensitive to the outside world. The artificial environment is different from nature, which will make it nervous. If the tension continues, it will lead to endocrine disorders and illness, which is fatal to the cubs." Professor Yang Guang said.
What caused the little finless porpoise to be separated from its mother? "It may be a sudden encounter with a jet stream or an undercurrent, or it may be a human activity such as a ship sailing, a sudden whistle or a sudden increase in the sound of a motor, which may cause fright." Professor Yang Guang believes that the impact of human activities on the ecology of the Yangtze River is really interfering with the normal life and reproduction of finless porpoises.
Finless porpoises at the top of the food chain but not enough to eat.
Jiang Meng, secretary-general of Nanjing finless porpoise protection association, often observes finless porpoises on the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Bridge, and organizes volunteers to assist fishery administration departments to release finless porpoises’ food such as fry and bait into the Yangtze River. "Many times when feeding, we found that the finless porpoise soon emerged on the nearby river." The water of finless porpoise is called "Jiang Zhu worships the wind", which was once a unique scenery on the Yangtze River. Today, however, there is something bitter behind such a scene. He believes that the gathering and appearance of finless porpoises during feeding, on the one hand, shows that finless porpoises are very smart creatures, on the other hand, also shows that finless porpoises are starving and very hungry for food. Jiang Meng once paid attention to the records of finless porpoises found in recent years. He found that "finless porpoises were originally round and chubby, but many bodies were salvaged and found to be very thin, and after dissection, they found that their stomachs were empty."
Relevant data show that the natural catch of fisheries in the Yangtze River is decreasing year by year, from 540,000 tons in 1954 to 70,000 tons in 2012. There are 175 endemic species in the Yangtze River, and more than half of them have been lost in the past five years. The long-term monitoring data of many scientific research institutions, such as the Institute of Aquatic Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences, show that the number of fry of the "four big fish" in the Yangtze River has dropped sharply, from more than 30 billion in the 1950s to less than 100 million in 2013.
The reporter learned that in 2016, the closed fishing period of the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River was adjusted from March 1 to June 30, and it was extended from the past three months to four months. This move was to strengthen the protection of finless porpoises and other aquatic organisms in the Yangtze River. However, before the effective intervention of government departments, the phenomenon of cool fishing and overfishing in the Yangtze River was more serious. Illegal fishing activities such as fish frying, electric fishing, "ecstasy" and homeless nets are draining the fishery resources in the Yangtze River.
"finless porpoises have no natural enemies in the Yangtze River. They can be said to be creatures at the top of the food chain. They are not very picky eaters, as long as they are fish within 20 cm in length. However, due to the exhaustion of fisheries in the Yangtze River, finless porpoises are in a state of starvation. " Professor Yang Guang said that in addition to accidental incidents such as accidental injuries caused by ship navigation and water pollution, the continuous decrease in the number of finless porpoises is ultimately caused by insufficient food resources.
Deji plaza subscribed for 1 million fry to demonstrate scientific "release"
Yesterday morning, at the Virescence Expo Aquatic Release Platform, deji plaza held the activity of "Yangtze River Aquatic Proliferation and Release". One million fry subscribed by deji plaza were all put into the Yangtze River. The Yangzi Evening News reporter learned that this is the first proliferation and release activity initiated by social forces in China for the protection of finless porpoises. Deji plaza made a scientific demonstration under the guidance of Nanjing Fishery Administration and Fishing Port Supervision and Management Office and Nanjing finless porpoise Protection Association.
The so-called "proliferation and release" is the activity of releasing aquatic species or their parents into public waters such as oceans, rivers and lakes by artificial means. Proliferation and release can replenish and restore the population of biological resources, improve the population structure of organisms, and help maintain biodiversity and protect endangered species. According to statistics, in the past three years, Jiangsu has invested 230 million yuan in proliferation and release. In 2015, the province invested more than 79 million yuan, releasing more than 2.1 billion species, including 815 million marine economic species, 1.281 billion inland economic species and 8.48 million rare and endangered species.
The subscription of Deji this time includes the fry of four major fishes in the Yangtze River (black carp, grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp) and the national second-class protected wild animal Myxocyprinus asiaticus. The Yangzi Evening News reporter saw at the scene that the fry were transported to the scene by special transport vehicles from the cultivation base cooked in Jiangning Lake. According to the breeder, these fry were specially bred for this proliferation and release, and cold oxygen transportation was used on the way to fully ensure their survival rate. Under the guidance of the staff of Nanjing Fishery Administration and Fishing Port Supervision and Management Office, the volunteers from deji plaza carefully dumped the fry, and along the long discharge embankment, countless fry swam across the slope and merged into the waves by the river. Fish fry are like countless black lines. As soon as they touch the water, they instantly swim away and go to the middle reaches of the river.
The release activity was sponsored by deji plaza and Nanjing finless porpoise protection association. Jia Wei, deputy general manager of deji plaza, introduced the original intention of choosing the theme of "Saving Endangered Animals" on the occasion of the 10th anniversary. "The Yangtze finless porpoise is one of the closest endangered animals to us. We hope that through the release of the Yangtze River and the efforts of all sectors of society, more people will pay attention to the living conditions and protect the finless porpoise. To contribute to the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise, improve the water quality of the Yangtze River and protect the biodiversity of the mother river. " Jia Wei said.
Professor Yang Guang told reporters that finless porpoises mainly eat all kinds of fish in the Yangtze River, and they have no choice about the types of fish they eat, mainly depending on their size. "You don’t see it has teeth, but its teeth can only bite, not like people’s teeth have the ability to chew, so it eats fish, and generally fish within 20 cm can be eaten. "Therefore, the fry released this time, on the one hand, are four local fish, which enriches the fishery resources of the Yangtze River, on the other hand, it is also very suitable for finless porpoises to eat."
So which fish or aquatic animals are suitable for release? At the scene, the fishery department also listed a list. Freshwater fish include: herring, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, bream, Eriocheir sinensis, fugu obscurus and other indigenous species with regional characteristics; Marine fish include: Pseudosciaena crocea, jellyfish, Cynoglossus semilaevis, swimming crab, prawn, Sole Sole, Meretrix meretrix, Sparus macrocephalus, etc. Rare and endangered aquatic animals: Chinese sturgeon, mullet, etc.
Expert reminder > >
Don’t throw these creatures into the Yangtze River again.
"When volunteers of our association patrol the river, they often see citizens who spontaneously organize release activities in the river or along the Yangtze River." Jiang Meng told the Yangzi Evening News reporter that because the public does not know much about species knowledge, in many cases, the released species can not only improve the ecology and enrich fishery resources, but also cause damage. He listed the three most common creatures that were released by the people.
Crocodile turtle: It is huge, up to 70 cm long. In the folk concept, releasing such a large turtle is a matter of "accumulating merits" and is favored by domestic enthusiasts. But in fact, the snapping turtle has nothing to do with compassion. It is extremely aggressive and has few natural enemies except alligators. "The most important thing is that the snapping turtle originated in the southeastern United States. If it is put into the Yangtze River, it will become a veritable intruder. Once it enters the Yangtze River, it will become a’ overlord’ and will take away the already scarce food source of the finless porpoise." Jiang Meng said.
Snakehead: It is what we often call "mullet". Unlike snapping turtles, snakehead is a common local fish, which is distributed in all major river systems in China. It is also a delicious food on the table of the citizens and can be easily bought in the food market. "But what people often overlook is that snakehead is fierce, fertile and has a huge appetite, and can often eat all other fish in a lake or pond." Jiang Meng told reporters that because finless porpoises are at a disadvantage in quantity, they are unable to compete with snakehead, the "king of big stomachs", for limited bait resources.
Brazilian tortoise: The most widely reared reptile in the world, but it is also listed as one of the most dangerous invasive species in the world because it plunders a lot of living resources. In China, many pet markets can see Brazilian tortoises on sale. Jiang Meng appealed that if citizens keep Brazilian tortoises for viewing, they should not be released into the wild or in the river. "Once they reach a brand-new ecological environment without a sufficient number of natural enemies, they will become a scourge and become an ecological disaster there." Jiang Meng said.
Nanjing will launch the first "census" of finless porpoises this summer.
At present, how many finless porpoises are there in Nanjing section of the Yangtze River? The statistics of the fishery administration department are "twenty or thirty", but there is no more accurate standard answer. Liu Jun, deputy director of Nanjing Fishery and Fishing Port Supervision and Management Office, told Yangzi Evening News reporter at the site of the proliferation and release activities held in deji plaza yesterday that this summer, the fishery administration department will launch the first "population census" of the Yangtze River finless porpoise in Nanjing, the top university in the United Nations for finless porpoise protection.
The Yangzi Evening News reporter learned that the latest data about the Yangtze finless porpoise still comes from the 2012 Yangtze River Freshwater Dolphin Investigation Report. At that time, the population of Yangtze finless porpoises was about 1040, less than half of that before 2006, less than that of giant pandas, and showed an accelerated downward trend. However, the details about the finless porpoise in Nanjing section are still vague. Liu Jun introduced that in this survey, besides finding out the latest accurate data, we should also find out the "destructive factors" that affect the normal reproduction of finless porpoises, so as to provide scientific basis for future artificial protection. "The special funds for the current investigation have been approved and will be launched after the parties are properly prepared."
Professor Yang Guang from Nanjing Normal University introduced that on October 9, 2014, Nanjing Yangtze finless porpoise nature reserve was established, covering 90% of the waters of Nanjing Yangtze River. He believes that it is essential to further strengthen the protection of Nanjing finless porpoise population and conduct a systematic scientific investigation. "The original data of 20 to 30 finless porpoises are very vague. As a provincial protected area, how many finless porpoises are there in this place, what are the activities of finless porpoises, and what changes have been made in the range of activities in spring and summer? Mastering some basic information of finless porpoises is the premise for us to effectively protect finless porpoises."
Expert opinion > >
Nanjing should also establish a "finless porpoise protection base"
The finless porpoise is the flagship species of the Yangtze River ecosystem, and it is also an indicator species of biodiversity and ecosystem health in the Yangtze River. The survival crisis of the finless porpoise itself is like a wake-up call, warning the deterioration of the entire Yangtze River ecosystem. Professor Yang Guang believes that from the perspective of long-term protection of finless porpoises, Nanjing should refer to the model of "giant panda breeding base" and establish a "finless porpoise protection base". "Since there is such a finless porpoise population in Nanjing, if we want to better carry out protection and rescue work, we can consider establishing a finless porpoise protection center. At the beginning, we can use the resources and facilities of the underwater world to help the finless porpoise, but in the future, we need to set up a special finless porpoise protection center. " Professor Yang said that after the investigation, with scientific consideration and demonstration, the finless porpoise can be better protected through protection, rescue and artificial breeding.
Deji celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Give the stage to the endangered animals around you
Jia Wei, deputy general manager of deji plaza, introduced that deji plaza will celebrate its 10th anniversary on June 26th this year. As a shopping center with humanistic care, deji plaza takes "saving endangered animals" as its theme, hoping to arouse Nanjing citizens’ concern for the environment. Yangzi Evening News reporter learned that in addition to subscribing for breeding, breeding and releasing, around the 10th anniversary, deji plaza also held a series of themed activities to protect finless porpoises and endangered animals.
The largest finless porpoise sculpture in Nanjing was exhibited on the first floor of deji plaza.
The 10th anniversary of deji plaza, with the theme of "Saving Endangered Animals", presented a series of themed activities. Among them, the artistic sculpture of finless porpoise named "Watch and Smile" is the most thought-provoking. The finless porpoise in the sculpture is smiling, but there are sad tears in his eyes. In the list of "Saving Endangered Animals" in the 10th anniversary of deji plaza, the Yangtze finless porpoise is an endangered animal living around us. This finless porpoise sculpture art exhibition is also to arouse more people’s awareness of caring for and protecting finless porpoises through more shocking art forms.
The overall size of the work is 10 meters ×3.8 meters, which is nearly seven times the size of the real finless porpoise, showing its process from beginning to end, from real to virtual until it disappears, just like a sketch drawn by a pen that is about to break ink, and finally disappears into a line. After the neck of the finless porpoise, there are a lot of mottled plastic marks, just like the wounds on the finless porpoise, which are shocking; The rising tail is made of more than 2,000 meters of steel bars, which gradually becomes sparse backwards until the lines disappear in the air, symbolizing the process of the disappearance and extinction of the finless porpoise.
On the 10th anniversary of deji plaza, the joint artists jointly presented the artistic sculpture of "Watching and Smiling" finless porpoise, which showed the status quo of the gradual disappearance of "smiling angel" finless porpoise with powerful artistic expression. Deji plaza said that through such soul-shaking works of art and theme activities, he hoped that more people could reflect on their indifference to nature and life, and called on more people to cry out from the bottom of their hearts: protect these "angels" who bring smiles to the world, coexist with every equal life and share the warmth from this world.
The "Noah’s Ark" came to Deji Outdoor Square to show all kinds of endangered animals.
At the same time, a huge boat-shaped device-"Noah’s Ark" also appeared in deji plaza Outdoor Square. This huge "Noah’s Ark" covers an area of about 600 square meters and has a double hull structure, with a total length of about 40 meters, a width of about 18 meters and a height of about 8 meters. In terms of material application, the hull uses a lot of wood grain plates, which truly restores the effect of wood grain hull and people’s original modeling imagination of Noah’s Ark. There are more than 1100 meters of steel and more than 1800 square meters of wood in the cabin, which makes it more in line with the hull structure and more integrated.
"Ark" has a video viewing and experience space of 150 square meters. Through 10 sets of world-class projection and audio equipment and the overall super-large screen in the cabin, the public welfare propaganda film for saving endangered animals is broadcast, bringing an immersive audio-visual experience to the audience. On the deck at the top of the Ark, highly restored models of dozens of endangered animals, such as Asian elephants, mountain zebras, polar bears, South China tigers and elk, were also exhibited.
Guarding the Yangtze River Beach and Opening the "Popular Science Lecture Hall for Endangered Animals"
Deji plaza has also launched a large-scale public welfare environmental protection activity along the Yangtze River "Yangtze River Beauty Plan", recruiting volunteers to go to the beaches along the Yangtze River to collect and sort garbage, contributing to changing the environmental status of the mother river and improving the living environment of the Yangtze finless porpoise. Up to now, four activities have been held. Volunteers, mainly parents and children, went to Qiaobei River Beach, Daqiao Park and Yanziji River Beach in Muyan Scenic Area to carry out activities such as garbage collection and biological knowledge popularization. Deji plaza hopes that the accumulated collection can create a clean home for the finless porpoise.
In addition, during the 10th anniversary celebration, deji plaza will carefully select ten premium charity gift packages, each of which contains single items provided by several brands, and the amount of gift packages ranges from 6,000 yuan to 35,000 yuan. All the proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Nanjing finless porpoise protection association for the Yangtze finless porpoise protection project.
Recently, deji plaza will also open a special "Popular Science Lecture Hall for Endangered Animals", which will be built into a classroom for children by opening up a space in the square. Experts from Nanjing finless porpoise protection association will come to the scene to explain the knowledge about endangered animals to children. Join the live interactive session to make the class more rich and interesting.