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The deterioration of the Yangtze River had to be reversed to preserve the habitat. The ex-situ projects aimed to raise a large enough population over time so that some, if not all, of the dolphins could be returned to the Yangtze, so the habitat within the river had to be maintained anyway.
The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) is a species of toothed whale in the family Phocoenidae, the porpoise family.It is endemic to the Yangtze River in China, making it the country's only known freshwater cetacean following the possible extinction of the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), a freshwater dolphin also native to the Yangtze. [3]
The Tian-e-Zhou Oxbow Nature Reserve is an area of wetland in the Yangtze basin near Shishou, Hubei province, People's Republic of China.Inside the reserve is the Tian'e-Zhou lake which was an intended sanctuary for the baiji (Yangtze river dolphin) and is currently holding 28 finless porpoises.
The baiji dolphin's habit historically covered much of the Yangtze River and its tributaries and lakes, from Yichang to Shanghai. It is mentioned in historical records going back 2,000 years. According to legend, the baiji dolphin is the reincarnation of a princess and called the Goddess of the Yangtze.
River dolphins are rather small, ranging in size from the 5-foot (1.5 m) long South Asian river dolphin to the 8-foot (2.4 m) and 220-pound (100 kg) Amazon river dolphin. They all have female-biased sexual dimorphism apart from Amazon river dolphin, with the females being larger than the males.
The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and threatened species, including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, and also was the home of the now extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish, as well as the Yangtze sturgeon, which is extinct in the wild.
Neophocaena is a genus of porpoise native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as the freshwater habitats of the Yangtze River basin in China. They are commonly known as finless porpoises. Genetic studies indicate that Neophocaena is the most basal living member of the porpoise family. [2] There are three species in this genus: [3] [4]
Sight is relatively poor, however, due to the overall cloudiness of the Yangtze River; they have a reduced lens and a limited number of fibers in the optic nerve and to the muscles moving the eyes compared to the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise. It is speculated that their vision is somewhat better than that of the Yangtze river dolphin. [6]