Threatened porpoises
China Daily | Updated: 2011-05-23 07:58
BEIJING - A drought along the Yangtze River has forced Yangtze finless porpoises to make do with ever smaller living spaces.
More than 30 finless porpoises now live in a semi-natural preservation area in Shishou city, Central China's Hubei province. In two thirds of the preservation area, the water in the Yangtze River stands only 3 meters deep.
Neighboring areas have been pumping water from the river to irrigate their farmland, causing about 10,000 cubic meters of water to be drained out of the area every day. That has made the average water level in the preservation area drop by about 20 centimeters a day.
Photo
