The extinction of Chinese white dolphins, nicknamed "pink dolphins", continues inexorably in the polluted waters of Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, the number of specimens has dropped significantly in recent years, from 158 in 2003 to 78 in 2011. However, the current pink dolphin population may be even smaller, given that 2012 statistics. have yet to be released.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Continue inexorable the extinction of Chinese white dolphins, nicknamed “pink dolphins”, in the polluted waters of Hong Kong, China. According to the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, the number of specimens has dropped significantly in recent years. from 158 in 2003 to 78 in 2011. However, the current pink dolphin population may be even smaller as 2012 statistics are yet to be released.
“It is up to the government and to every Hong Kong citizen defend the dolphins. We risk losing unless we all take note of it ", he told the AFP its president, Samuel Hung. The alarm comes just a week after a tour guide fromHong Kong Dolphinwatch has published a cmoving video on Facebook: in the short video, recorded in the Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park on 28 April, the female is seen trying to bring the baby to the surface.
“I started filming and that's when I noticed the dead puppy. From its size and color, I assumed it was a newborn. It was so depressing and very sad, ”explained the tour guide. “There was a group of four or five dolphins who, in turn, with the mother tried to hold the baby on the surface of the water. We watched the scene for about 30 minutes, ”said Hong Kong Dolphinwatch spokesperson Janet Walker, who believes this death is likely to have occurred.Connected precisely to the heavy pollution.
The pink dolphin is currently classified as “Almost at risk” on the ICC Red List and how Recalls the WWF, China places it among the species in need of degree 1 protection, the highest. And it is not even the first time that the species conservation group has warned about the tragic situation: already in the first months of 2012 it had revealed that it had set up a DNA bank to save the remaining specimens. Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promised last March that the government "will make more vigorous efforts to reduce this pollution." Without specifying either what measures it intends to take or when ...
Roberta Ragni
Photo Credit DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images
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