Villagers battle to save rare Chinese White Dolphin

A Chinese White Dolphin was found injured in the village of Luo, Foshan City, China on March 12th 2012. The dolphin had got lost in a river nearby and collided with the screw propeller of a fishing boat at some point in the past. Its dorsal fin was cut in half when it was found, even though the injury had healed it couldn’t swim or hunt for food properly and was in serious distress. In a combined community effort from the villagers, they rescued the dolphin in order for it to go through a rehabilitation programme at the ZhuJiang Chinese White Dolphin National Nature Reserve.

alt
Villagers watch as the rescue mission takes place
alt
Dolphin was saved by a combined effort of several government departments and wildlife organisations of Luo Village, despite two previous unsuccessful rescue attempts.

The size of the dolphin is about 1.5 meters long, and about 30 years old. The Chinese White Dolphin’s scientific name is the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin or Sousa Chinensis.

It is listed by China as a ‘First Class National Protected Animal’ alongside the China White-flag dolphin, Panthera Tigris (also known as South China Tiger) and the Panda.

alt

alt
Make-shift rescue equipment
alt
Chinese White Dolphins are born grey but become white when adults
(Visited 37 times, 1 visits today)