湖南洞庭湖40余天发现12只江豚死亡

From March 3rd until April 15th, 12 river dolphins were discovered dead one after another in Dongting Lake in Hunan Province's Yueyang City. In the entire Yangtze River basin, only around 1,200 of this species remain, to the point that its numbers are even less than China's "National Treasure", the giant panda. Apart from Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake has also recently found river dolphins dead, with autopsies revealing that most of these river dolphins shared a common characteristic: There was no food to be found in their digestive systems.

从3月3日到4月15日，湖南岳阳洞庭湖连续续发现12只江豚死亡。整个长江流域这一物种也仅仅只剩下约1200头左右，其种群数量甚至已经比国宝大熊猫还少。不仅是洞庭湖，鄱阳湖近期也发现江豚死亡，尸体解剖发现，这些死亡的江豚大多有一个共同特点：消化系统里没有任何食物残留。

Every April/May is this "National Treasure" river dolphin's most active and most vigorous season. However, this year from March 3rd to April 15th over 12 dolphins have been found dead. It is reported that the river dolphin has been included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as a second level protected animal, and has been called the Yangtze River's "living fossil" and "water giant panda".

每年的四五月份是“国宝”江豚活动最频繁、生命力最旺盛的季节。但今年3月3日到4月15日，湖南岳阳洞庭湖连续续发现12只江豚死亡。图为4月15日，湖南省岳阳市江豚保护志愿者在雨中守护死亡的江豚。

Experts say, this many protected species dying in such a short amount of time is unprecedented in the ecological history of the Yangtze River. The present high rate of death signifies that the river dolphin might be the Yangtze River Basin's primary population faced with extinction.

据悉，江豚是被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》的国家二级保护动物，被称作长江生态的“活化石”和“水中大熊猫”。整个长江流域这一物种也仅仅只剩下约1200头左右，其种群数量甚至已经比国宝大熊猫还少。图为4月13日，湖南省岳阳市渔政站工作人员对死亡的江豚进行体征勘察。

As autopsies have uncovered, these dead river dolphins had one problem in common: there was no food remaining in their digestive tract. Although the precise cause of death remains uncertain, expert analysis has uncovered three possible causes of death: infectious disease, poisoning, or starvation.

尸体解剖发现，这些死亡的江豚大多有一个共同特点：消化系统里没有任何食物残留。尽管死因尚未明确，但专家分析，导致江豚死亡的原因可能有三个：感染传染性疾病、中毒、饿死。图为4月14日，新华联富润公司员工将湖南省岳阳市洞庭大桥以南水域死亡的江豚抬上岸。

April 14th, Hunan province Yueyang city river dolphin protection volunteers bring a dead river dolphin onto shore from the area of the Dongting Lake south of the Dongting Lake Bridge.

4月14日，湖南省岳阳市江豚保护志愿者将洞庭大桥以南水域的死亡江豚抬上岸。