A state-level rescue center for river porpoises has been established for nine years in Nanchang, Jiangxi province. However, it has yet to rescue a single one of the endangered species, which are rarer than giant pandas, the Chengdu Business Daily reported.

A "smiling" porpoise from the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology.[Photo/China Daily]

Located in the northeast of Nanchang, the center was completed in 2005 at the cost of 5.43 million yuan ($874,230). It was China's first river porpoise rescue center in the Yangtze river basin, and intended to rescue porpoises living in Poyang Lake and part of the Yantze River in Jiangxi province.

Now the center is almost deserted. Its two-story office building is crumbing, and there are no workers in it. One of the pools meant to breed porpoises has become a fish pool, and the others have gone to waste.

According to Chen Fu, deputy director of the Jiangxi Fishery Administration, only three or four dead porpoises have been sent to the center for preservation and dissection.

However, an official at the administration denied that the rescue center had been abandoned, saying it was "on standby."

An unnamed expert said the location of the center was a major reason that it was not put into use. It's too far away from Poyang Lake, a major habitat for porpoises in the province, and injured porpoises couldn't bear the long-distance transfer, he said.

After years of development, the environment around the rescue center has become inhospitable for porpoises, he added.

Liu Xiaolong, chief of the environment and resources department at the fishery administration, said the center was necessary about 10 years ago. He also denied that it was abandoned, saying that "in a few unusual circumstances, it would be activated."

About 1,000 river porpoises live in and around the Yangtze River, including some 450 in Poyang Lake. Studies found the rate of death for the rare species is at 5 to 10 percent annually, which means the river porpoises would be extinct in 15 years if no effective protections are implemented.

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