Endangered Chinese white dolphin dies in river

Representational image

New Delhi: An endangered white dolphin in China has died in the Guangdong province in the southern side of the Chinese province.

Ten days after mistakenly swimming in a freshwater river in the southern part of Chine, the beautiful white dolphin passed away.

Wildlife experts attempting to rescue the dolphin, which is a protected species in China, said its health had deteriorated noticeably during the last 10 days.

The mature dolphin, which was estimated to be around 30- years-old, swam into the Baisha River, a tributary of the Pearl River in Jiangmen, on February 1 and died last night.

It is thought that the dolphin may have been suffering navigation issues due to its age, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"Chinese white dolphins are social animals, so elderly individuals can easily get lost if they have navigation or hearing problems," said Fang Liang, a researcher with the School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University.

An autopsy will be arranged by the local nature reserve administration.

Each year, Guangdong reports two to three cases of senior white dolphins mistakenly entering freshwater rivers.

Chinese white dolphins can be found in just a handful of coastal areas.

There are about 2,000 at the mouth of the Pearl River.

(With PTI inputs)