China plans first reserve for endangered white dolphin

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

BEIJING (AFP) — China will set up its first reserve for the endangered white dolphin, known as "the panda of the ocean" because of its slim survival chance, state media has reported.

The city of Zhuhai, in the southern province of Guangdong, had set aside 460 square kilometers (180 square miles) in Guandi Bay for the reserve, with construction set to start by the end of the year, the Xinhua news agency said.

There are about 2,000 white dolphins left in China, and more than half live in the Pearl River estuary in south China, according to Chen Jialin, an official in charge of white dolphin rescue efforts.

"Pollutants discharged into the water by paper mills, chemical plants and plating factories along the river has been destroying the dolphins' habitat," Chen...