Rescue in China endless pigs from the border of extinction

Chinese scientists lead the battle to save one of the last large species of animals living in the Yangtze River – and a complete ban on fishing in the region helps them.

At the Institute of Hydrobiology in the ear of only 5 km (3.1 miles) from the river bank, the bodies of the already fictional river dolphin (Baji in Chinese) and paddle are sitting behind the glass.

“Now that they are extinct, we are going to save the Yangtze River pig,” Professor Van Si says BBC. “It has become the most important animal here.”

It was in 2002 that the last famous Bajji died, 22 years after the researchers of the Institute began to take care of it. A year later, the last known paddle fish – a type of fish that can grow up to more than 3 meters – accidentally caught fishermen and, despite the radio with the tag and released, disappeared.

Now the goal is to stop the infinite river – 1200 of which remain in the wild, according to modern estimates – from suffering on the same fate.

“This is the only top-level predator left in the river,” explains Professor Van. “They are rare, and their number reflects the health of the ecology of the whole system.”

The idea of stopping all fishing was first conceived by Professor Cao Venksuan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), but it took a much greater pressure from the scientists before a full 10-year-old Ban finally came into force almost five years ago.

The banned police, the ban, carries a potential term in prison for those who caught fishing straight along the Yangtze, as well as the neighboring lakes and tributaries. It was very devastating and brought 220,000 fishermen out of work.

However, the infinite pigs belonging to the oldest living branch of the genealogical tree of pigs remains critical of disappearance.

The BBC’s ones were shown at the Institute to be held in captivity to study CAS. They can be seen from the top of the water or from the bottom after picked up the ladder down next to the deep reservoir where the observation area is located.

Scientists say they are excited in the company of people, and they seem to demonstrate: they rush on water and swim at speed, close to a glass with people on the other side. Swiming past, they seem to look at you with a mischievous smile.

In the wild, they still hang out where other species could not.

Building the main part of the three -platinum platinum in 2006 did not affect an infinite pork place that should not go up the current, although it affected the fish they eat.

For other large marine animals, such as a fishing or a Chinese wint, the structure was catastrophic.

Van Ding, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Mson), which specializes in Chinese, such as endless Popaz, dedicated his life to preserving Yangtze’s health. He sees good and bad with these dams – and reminds how they used to be.

“Every season of the flood we will have to organize a team with strong muscles, using many men to sleep on the river bank, just in case the flood came,” he says. “Then when the floods hit, everyone did their best to try to keep the levy jars hard to make sure they were not broken by dangerous water.”

Now, he said, three platinum gorges are mitigated against the flood.

According to Professor Van, this massive, blocking river also prevents giant by Yanzzc to reach a spawning ground.

While the fish fish were briefly, it seemed to find an alternative place, he said, this is not the case – and these days, the steams are only in the river, because the researchers pour them, 10,000 at the same time.

Despite the fact that last year in Yangtze more than a million, which was released in prisoners, attempts to raise the population were unsuccessful because the fish did not recover in the wild.

Thus, the endless pigs will not end in this way, Professor van and other scientists hope that the current complete fishing ban will continue after the initial 10 years are over.

Their study, published in the Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, records a sharp increase in the number of fish because the ban came into force in 2021.

Another threat to an endless pig can be more difficult to solve.

Wang Si noted that “ships are very dangerous for the animal’s brain because they are very noisy.”

It is said that this produces the form of underwater noise of pollution, which causes elimination from animals.

Chinese scientists believe that the sound of ships may have contributed to the death of the Bajji Yangtze Dolphins, which used Sonar to communicate.

But one thing is to ban fishing – it would be completely different to stop the busy river movement that provides passengers, as well as goods, as well as provides a life curve for most of the central China economy.

More attainable was the compulsion of factories that create chemicals to get away from Yanzz. Thousands of them have been closed or moved over the last decade, and is said to significantly improved the quality of the river.

It was also involved in the society in the pressure of pigs.

After retirement, Jan he took up amateur photography. Now, he said, he goes to the river with his camera equipment every day, trying to notice animals.

When he gets some good shots, he directs them to scientists who say he is doing a better job than almost everyone who tracks his progress.

Mr. John says he once saw a pig in trouble that got into some network. He informed the local authorities who closed this section of the river all delivery until it was able to save-and it turned out that the Porpoz was quickly released. He felt pretty good in that, he says.

However, these are the most convincing stories.

In the 1990s, there were 3,300 endless pigs in the wild. By 2006, this has halved.

Then the fishing bans came, the factories were postponed, and the decline stopped. Not only this, but also in the last five years, Paroaz’s numbers have increased by almost a quarter.

Scientists are proud of these figures – the consequences that they are more widely adhered to the environment.

“We save endless pigs to save the Yangtze River,” says Van Ding. “It’s like a great mirror to have an idea of how well we do the protection of this ecosystem.

“If the pigs work out when their number increases, it means that the environmental health of the whole river also improves.”