Rare finless porpoise set to give birth
The Institute of Hydrobiology of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan city, central Chinaās Hubei Province, is preparing for the birth of a baby finless porpoise.
After a 10-month pregnancy, the 7-year-old finless porpoise, named F9 is going to give birth in the institute where it began its own life in 2010.
Any birth of a finless porpoise is seen as an important event because the species has been categorized as āCritically Endangeredā by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The categorization means a speciesā population has reduced by over 80% during any 10-year or three-generation period.
The rare finless porpoises have existed on earth for about 25 million years, most of which are found in Chinaās Yangtze River, Dongting Lake and Fanyang Lake. They are often referred to as ālive fossilā.
However, due to polluted water, illegal fishing and construction of water conservancy projects, there are now only 1,040 left according to a survey done by the nationās Ministry of Agriculture, along with the Institute of Hydrobiology and the WWF in 2013.
