China races to rescue rare 'smiling angel' of Asia's longest river

NANJING－Along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, a slick black back briefly arches above the silvery surface as one of the world's most endangered animals emerges, gulping for air.

Glimpses of the Yangtze finless porpoise are taken by many Chinese as a good omen since the aquatic mammal is critically endangered, being even rarer than the giant panda, the country's poster child for species conservation.

The latest research on the species released by the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs in 2018 showed there was a wild population of just 1,012 still navigating the twists and turns of the longest river in Asia.

After its more-storied cousin, the baiji dolphin, was declared "functionally extinct" in 2007 in the same waters, the finless porpoise is believed to be the Yangtze's last surviving mammal, said Jiang Meng, secretary-general of the Nanjing Yangtze Finless Porpoise Conservation Association.

Permanent grin

The freshwater porpoise with no dorsal fin is native to China. They only live in the central and eastern parts of the 6,300-kilometer Yangtze－including Dongting and Poyang lakes－according to conservationists.

With its mouth fixed in a permanent grin, the rotund finless porpoise is adored in China as a "smiling angel". But after living in the waters for some 25 million years, the species is now fighting for its very survival.

The riverbank of the Yangtze used to be studded with steel mills and petrochemical factories that took advantage of cheap water transport, causing its water quality to deteriorate.

"Unsustainable fishing, which reduced its natural prey, collisions with ships and water pollution have all had an impact on the porpoise's health, making it critically endangered," Jiang said.

The extinction of the baiji stung the collective conscience of the Chinese people.

"We cannot afford to let the 'smiling angel' go extinct," Jiang said. "Its fate foreshadows the health of the whole river ecosystem. So the crisis is also our own."

The finless porpoise requires healthy river ecosystems, and so do the millions of people who live in the Yangtze River basin. Protecting the creature will also help alleviate China's food and water security issues, said Karin Krchnak, director of the World Wildlife Fund's freshwater program.

"Fortunately, people have awakened and are racing to save them," Jiang said.

Concerted efforts

Nanjing, capital of eastern China's Jiangsu province, is the only Chinese city where visitors can observe the finless porpoise in an urban setting. More than 50 finless porpoises have been spotted in the Yangtze in Nanjing.

In 2014, the local government opened a protection zone that covers an area of nearly 87 square kilometers along the Yangtze for the endangered species.

Last year, Nanjing made several design adjustments in building new Yangtze river infrastructure to minimize the impact on the endangered animal.

Eagles and migratory birds can always be seen flitting around the 30-sq-km core part of the zone, where the construction of any factories is strictly prohibited, Nanjing's environmental protection bureau said.

Jiang set up the conservation association in 2015 in the hope of teaching local people to care for the finless porpoise and has organized over 100 public engagement activities in local schools and communities.

The quality of the porpoise's habitat is a bench mark for its protection, said Sun Lifeng, an official with the Nanjing Dolphin Nature Reserve.

"We have been devoted to the afforestation of the Yangtze River shoreline as wetlands are critical for the entire ecological environment," Sun said.

Since 2016, the environmental protection of the Yangtze, rather than large-scale development, has become the dominant focus of the country's river development plans.

The rallying call was heard as authorities across China carried out a series of measures, including preventing water pollution, restricting ship movements and patrolling the nature reserves every day.

Jiangsu, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze, closed more than 6,000 chemical factories near the river in the last three years. And Chongqing, lying upstream, aims to remove all factories with dilapidated equipment from the river this year.

"Official clampdowns on overfishing and polluting activities have gradually restored the water quality of the Yangtze," Jiang said.

Encouraging signs

The 1,012 finless porpoises in the river in 2018 was only a slight drop from 1,040 in 2012, said Wang Ding, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with protection work showing encouraging signs.

Chinese lawmakers have started deliberating on the country's first legislation covering a specific river basin, a draft law on Yangtze River conservation aimed at protecting the ecological environment and facilitating green development.

The central government is also pushing for a 10-year fishing ban in 332 conservation areas along the Yangtze from this year, which will be expanded to the entire river and its main tributaries next year.

Yang Jinlong was once a fisherman in Nanjing. The 45-year-old chose to be a patrolman in an all-volunteer monitoring team consisting of dozens of fish farmers in 2016, when the city closed a large number of fishing-related enterprises along the Yangtze.

Yang gradually came to understand the finless porpoises after years of hard work recording their sightings at the monitoring sites in the protection zone.

"I grew up near the Yangtze and it brings me peace of mind," Yang said. "It doesn't matter that we can't fish, but it matters that the 'smiling angel' keeps smiling."

In recent years, the monitoring team has captured countless precious pictures and footage of the porpoises, providing support for scientific research on the endangered animal.

With increasing environmental awareness, more Chinese people are willing to volunteer to protect the porpoise, Yang said.

"When I see the animal jumping out of the water, I feel fulfilled. It's like everything we've done is worth it," he said.

"And we see changes. Little young finless porpoises can often be spotted now, which indicates the endangered mammal is thriving."