The Tian-e-Zhou Oxbow Nature Reserve is an area of wetland in the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

basin near

Shishou Shishou (; ) is a county-level city under the administration of the prefectural-level city Jingzhou, in the south of Hubei province, near its border with Hunan province, and is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Swan Islet Wet ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

province, People's Republic of China. Inside the reserve is the Tian'e-Zhou lake which was an intended sanctuary for the

baiji The baiji (; IPA: ; ''Lipotes vexillifer'', ''Lipotes'' meaning "left behind" and ''vexillifer'' "flag bearer") is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolph ...

(Yangtze river dolphin) and is currently holding 28

finless porpoise ''Neophocaena'' is a genus of porpoise native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as the freshwater habitats of the Yangtze River basin in China. They are commonly known as finless porpoises. Genetic studies indicate that ''Neophocaena'' is ...

The reserve

In 1988, the River Dolphin Research group in Wuhan proposed the idea of placing the rapidly declining baiji in the Tian'e-Zhou

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

. The reserve was intended to hold any captured baiji, since it had a healthy population of fish and could sustain over 50 baiji if breeding was successful. The oxbow was connected to the Yangtze during the summer season when the water level was high, so nets were installed to ensure the baiji would not escape. Five

s were first introduced in 1990 to see if it was a suitable habitat. Further relocation attempts took place, however some porpoises died and others escaped the reserve during floods. In 1995, an adult female

was caught and immediately transported to the oxbow. After a few days she was seen swimming and feeding. After the 1996 flood she was found dead, entangled in the nets preventing her from leaving the reserve. Scientists studying her stomach contents show that there was little food inside, likely as a result of competition with more aggressive porpoises. She was the last baiji to live in the Tian'e-Zhou reserve. Samuel Turvey, ''Witness to Extinction''. Retrieved 2011-08-12.

References

External links

The baiji.org Foundation
Tian-e-Zhou Oxbow Nature Reserve
BBC News
"Last chance for China's dolphin" Nature reserves in China Landforms of Hubei Wetlands of China {{Asia-protected-area-stub

The reserve

See also

References

External links