From 28 November to 2 December 2004, 50 specialists from China, Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia met in Wuhan, China, to consider ways forward for preventing extinction of the baiji, the world’s most endangered cetacean. As a secondary but important concern, the group also considered the role of ex situ approaches (i.e. removing animals from the wild for protection and study outside nature) in improving the conservation status of endangered Yangtze River finless porpoises. The workshop was hosted by the Institute of Hydrobiology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Ministry of Agriculture, and organized by the Swiss baiji.org foundation in collaboration with the World Conservation Union’s Cetacean Specialist Group and the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization Conservation International. Financial support came from baiji.org foundation, Conservation International and Budweiser.

After site visits to assess conditions at the Shishou Semi-natural Reserve (a 20-kilometer long oxbow adjacent to the Yangtze River) and the Wuhan dolphinarium (a research facility housing finless porpoises), participants spent two days at the Institute of Hydrobiology discussing a variety of issues, including: "best practices" for the capture, transport, care and maintenance of dolphins; strategies to optimize chances for establishing a self-sustaining breeding population of baiji in the oxbow and/or dolphinarium; necessary modifications to improve the security and quality of the oxbow as habitat for baiji and finless porpoises; and how to restore the natural Yangtze environment so that it can once again support healthy populations of both species.

Following recommendations of an international meeting on river dolphins in 1986, China’s successful program of capture, translocation and maintenance of finless porpoises has demonstrated the adequacy of the oxbow as an ex situ environment for cetaceans. The good survival and reproduction of porpoises, despite recognized problems with water quality, fishing and reserve infrastructure over the years, gives reason to hope that baiji can also survive and reproduce there. It was strongly recommended, however, that facilities and personnel be in place to allow newly arrived dolphins to be held in sea-pens for intensive observation and assessment prior to their release into the oxbow. Moreover, provision needs to be made for ongoing research and management of the reserve, including regular observations of the cetaceans, their prey resources, water quality and human activity.

There was strenuous discussion between workshop participants of where to put captured baiji – whether in the dolphinarium or the semi-natural reserve. The international view unaminously favoured the semi-natural reserve whilst some Chinese strongly believed that the dolphinarium at Wuhan was the better option (especially if a limited number of baiji were captured). Workshop participants unanimously agreed, however, that any decision should be made on the basis of ensuring the health and safety of the individual animals and meeting the long-term conservation objective of establishing a self-sustaining ex situ population that can eventually help restore the baiji to its natural Yangtze environment. A range-wide survey of the Yangtze River from Yichang to Shanghai, to be organized by the Institute of Hydrobiology and baiji.org foundation in early 2005, is expected to provide a basis for better-informed decisions on where and how to carry out capture attempts.

On the one hand, it must be recognized that regardless of how well planned, well equipped and well executed capture operations may be, and even with state-of-the-art facilities and care, catching animals and relocating them into either the oxbow or the dolphinarium carries some risk of failure. On the other hand, a decision not to remove baiji from the Yangtze carries a risk that the species will go extinct because of the ongoing, and increasing, threats that exist there. There is thus no risk-free approach to preventing the baiji’s extinction. Scientists, conservationists and decision-makers will need to act quickly and boldly, in a cooperative, serious and generous spirit, if there is to be any hope of success.

Extinction of the baiji would mean not only the loss of a species but of an entire family of mammals (Lipotidae). This increases the sense of urgency. The critical status of the baiji (fewer than 100 individuals are thought to survive) and the deteriorating status of the Yangtze finless porpoise signify that one of our planet’s great aquatic ecosystems – the Yangtze River basin and the diverse biological riches that are adapted to thrive within it – is in immediate peril, thanks to the nearby presence of some 10% of the earth’s human population. China’s new openness to the outside world and its rapid emergence as a global superpower are creating opportunities not only to increase economic prosperity and human welfare, but also to preserve and restore natural wealth and to avert ecological collapse. Workshop participants left Wuhan with a sober recognition that the risks are high and the challenge is enormous. They also left, however, with a renewed sense of engagement and commitment to work together in addressing that challenge.

In keeping with the new hope raised by the workshop on the future of the baiji, participants agreed that scientists and conservationists must collaborate even more closely with the authorities and key decisionmakers in China. A steering committee consisting of representatives of the Institute of Hydrobiology, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, baiji.org foundation and other organisations (Chen Zhengguo, Wang Ding, Zhou Kaiya, Randall Reeves and August Pfluger) will coordinate the efforts of all stakeholders and work to create a broader-based platform for communication and action on behalf of the baiji.