At the end of 1999, Xinhua News Agency broadcast a message that a child aged 10 in Guizhou learned that the Baiji dolphin was in critical condition and the protection work was difficult to carry out due to lack of funds. He saved 10 yuan from his pocket money every month and sent it to Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Protection Foundation in the name of "Aiqi", which has been uninterrupted for more than two years. Archie wrote in the letter. Our next generation may only know about the Yangtze baiji from the books and stories we tell ... I am determined to do my little bit to protect them. I think, as long as everyone in the whole society makes a little effort, the baiji will definitely have a living space like a giant panda. "Aiqi's touching move has attracted many people's attention to the baiji.
The baiji dolphin is a rare animal in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Its brain is as developed and spiritual as an orangutan. As early as tens of millions of years ago, baiji entered the Yangtze River from the ocean and settled there. It is one of the earliest "aborigines" in this great river. It was recorded in Erya, an ancient book of Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago. Pu Songling, a writer in Qing Dynasty, wrote in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio
Only 30 years ago, there were more than 1000 baiji in the Yangtze River. Due to serious river pollution, busy shipping (propeller flapping), overfishing and fishing, the population of Baiji dolphin has dropped sharply. 1986, there were about 300 baiji, which were listed as "12 the most endangered animals in the world" by IUCN.
Like the giant panda and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the baiji dolphin is known as a "living fossil" and a "relic creature". In ancient geological history, vestiges were abundant, varied and widely distributed, but in the new period or modern times, they declined greatly, leaving only one or two species living alone in individual areas, and some even have the trend of gradual extinction.
The giant panda, baiji, alligator, Chinese sturgeon, white sturgeon and other animals, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, ginkgo, fragrant fruit trees, tree ferns and other plants are all world-famous relics that only exist in China, and they escaped a geological disaster with a narrow escape under the protection of the Yangtze River. Because of its superior natural and geographical environment, the Yangtze River Basin has become a rare cultural relic refuge in the world.
When I boarded the Yellow Crane Tower near the Yangtze River, I remembered the poem of Cui Hao, a poet in the Tang Dynasty: "In the past, the Yellow Crane carried saints to heaven, but now only the Yellow Crane Tower is left. The Yellow Crane is no longer on earth, and Baiyun will never have him." We can't help asking, is "the last baiji dolphin on earth died alone in the Yangtze River" destined to be written into the great book of the Yangtze River?
To breed baiji artificially, at least 20 baiji should be captured, but the two nature reserves of Honghu Silla and Shishou Swan Island invested by 1992 are still empty.
After the extinction of a species, it will irreversibly disappear from the life sequence of the earth forever, and its unique gene pool will also cease to exist. Europe and the United States are doing well in environmental protection now, but in the past, many wild animals were basically extinct in the process of industrialization, so those two continents lost their biodiversity. No matter how much money and advanced technology there is, any loss of biodiversity cannot be recovered and compensated.
Today, Aiqi and many people are still making final efforts to protect the baiji. Although no one dares to expect that this kind of effort will make the Baiji dolphin make a final effort, although no one dares to expect that this kind of effort will save the Baiji dolphin from extinction, if we turn a blind eye to the extinction of the creatures around us, then the day of disaster arrival will not be far away.
The Yangtze River, which can't accommodate the baiji, will eventually be unable to accommodate human survival. Protecting the Yangtze River and rare animals like baiji is to protect human beings themselves.