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Chinese River Dolphin
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  Name Chinese River Dolphin
  Regnum Animal ia
  Phylum Chordata
  Classis Mammal ia
  Subclassis Eutheria
  Ordo Cetacea
  Subordo Odontoceti
  Superfamilia Platanistoidea
  Familia '''Lipotidae'''
  Genus '''''Lipotes'''''
  Species '''''L vexillifer'''''
  Binomial ''Lipotes vexillifer''
  Binomial Authority Miller , 1918
  Range Map cetacea_range_map_Chinese_River_DolphinPNG
  Range Map Width 200px


The Chinese River Dolphin (''Lipotes vexillifer'') is a ), '''Whitefin Dolphin''', '''Whiteflag Dolphin''', '''Yangtze Dolphin''', and '''Yangtze River Dolphin'''. It is nicknamed "the Goddess of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze)" (長江女神) in China.


EARLY HISTORY

Fossil records indicate that the dolphins migrated from The Pacific to the Yangtze River 20,000 years ago. The dolphins are described during the Han Dynasty in a Biological Encyclopedia , '' Erya ''. It is estimated that there were 5,000 Chinese River Dolphins at that time. In 1978 , the Chinese Academy Of Sciences established the Freshwater Dolphin Research Centre (淡水海豚研究中心) as a branch of the Wuhan Institute Of Hydrobiology .


THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SPECIES' RAPID DECLINE

  • declares Baiji endangered

  • 1983 : National law declaring hunting Baiji illegal

  • 1986 : Population at 300

  • 1990 : Population at 200

  • 1997 : Population at less than 50 (23 found)

  • 1998 : 7 found


Its current population is difficult to estimate, but it is thought that there are at least thirteen individuals still alive. Needless to say, that is an extremely low number and it is therefore thought to be the world's most Endangered Cetacean . A captive specimen, a male named Qiqi (淇淇), was located at the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology from 1980 to July 14 , 2002 . Qiqi was discovered by a fisherman in Dongting Lake , and later became the sole resident of Baiji Dolphin Aquarium (白鱀豚水族馆) beside East Lake. There was a later captive, which died after living a year ( 1996 to 1997 ) in the Shishou Semi-natural Baiji Dolphin Sanctuary (石首半自然白鱀豚保护区) that had been empty since 1990 . A female was found in Chongming Island near Shanghai in 1998 , but she did not eat any provided food and starved to death within a month.


CONSERVATION

The Baiji Dolphin Conservation Foundation of Wuhan (武汉白鱀豚保护基金), the first Chinese aquatic species protection organization, was founded in December 1996 . The Foundation has gathered 1,383,924.35 CNY (about 10,034.02 USD ) and have spent the financial resources on In Vitro cell preservation and maintenance of the Chinese River Dolphin facilities, including the 1998 -flooded Shishou Sanctuary.


THREE GORGES DAM

The introduction of the Three Gorges Dam has irrevocably altered the habitat of the Chinese River Dolphin. It is almost certain that the species will be extinct by the end of the decade, if it is not already.


SEE ALSO



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