On August 26, the topic of "mermaid prototype extinction in China" appeared on Weibo's hot search, triggering heated discussion among netizens.
Recently, scientists reported that due to habitat destruction and poaching, dugongs, which are believed to be the prototype of mermaids, have become functionally extinct in China. The study, done by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Zoological Society of London, has been published in the British journal Royal Society Open Science.
The first functional extinction of large vertebrates in waters off China
On August 24, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that dugongs are marine herbivorous mammals that rely specifically on seagrass. But seagrass habitats are rapidly degrading due to industrial pollution, coastal development, overfishing and climate change.
In addition, fishing and boat collisions are also one of the reasons for the decline in dugong activity.
Dugongs are mild-mannered and resemble manatees in appearance, but have a whale-like tail. Because it requires regular surface breathing, it is thought to have been a possible inspiration for ancient mermaid and siren legends.
Dugongs were once widely distributed in tropical and subtropical coastal and island waters in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, while domestically distributed in the waters of the South China Sea. Due to habitat destruction and fishing, it is currently concentrated in Australia, and the number of dugongs in other regions has declined sharply.
In 1988, the dugong was listed as a national key protected animal by the mainland, but since 2008, there has been no record of dugongs in China. Scientists have investigated and believed that dugongs have become functionally extinct in China.
Functional extinction means that under natural conditions, the population of dugongs has been reduced to the point where it cannot sustain reproduction.
In layman's terms, although there are still individual dugongs, they are no longer able to reproduce and expand the population, and if there is no other intervention, then the eventual extinction of the dugong is a high probability event.
The functional extinction of dugongs in mainland china was the first functional extinction of large vertebrates in China's waters.
Professor Samuel-Twee, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), co-author of the study, said: "The possible disappearance of dugongs in China is a devastating loss".
The tragedy of animal extinction has been repeated in the world
According to public information, between 1600 and 1800, 25 species of birds and mammals on earth went extinct. Between 1800 and 1950, 78 species of birds and mammals on Earth went extinct.
Species such as the dodo, the Icelandic great auk, the North American passenger pigeon, the South African spotted donkey, the Australian thylacine, the straight-ahead macaque, the high-nosed antelope, the Taiwanese clouded leopard, the Chinese rhinoceros, and the Antarctic wolf no longer exist.
Animals such as the white dolphin, the Sumatran tiger, the northern white rhinoceros, the Orinoco crocodile, and the small-billed lemur are also endangered.
The Yangtze River white sturgeon is a species that has only recently become extinct on the mainland, and it is a species unique to the mainland, just as rare as the giant panda. The difference is that the Yangtze River white sturgeon can reach a length of up to 8 meters when it reaches adulthood, and no one can stand out among freshwater fish, so it is also known as the "King of Freshwater Fish in China".
Studies have shown that the Yangtze River white sturgeon has lived on Earth for more than 150 million years.
Although the extinction of the Yangtze River white sturgeon was published in the international academic journal Holistic Environmental Science in January 2020, researchers have not found wild Yangtze River white sturgeon since 2003. Due to overfishing and various human factors, the Yangtze River white sturgeon eventually went extinct.
South China tiger and The Yangtze River white sturgeon are unique animals in mainland China, as one of the 6 subspecies of tigers, the existence of south China tigers not only has its irreplaceability. Before the 20th century, the South China tiger used to spread throughout most provinces on the mainland.
Although the mainland had legislated to protect the South China tiger as early as 1977, it became extinct in the wild in 1994 due to overhunting.
Fortunately, in the mid-20th century, some wild South China tigers were caught in zoos for viewing, preserving their last traces of blood. The existing South China tigers are all captive breeding, and are the descendants of the original South China tigers.
The protection of wildlife and the maintenance of ecological balance require perseverance
Although the tragedy of biological extinction is still playing out, as the mainland pays more and more attention to the protection of endangered animal and plant resources, maintains biodiversity, and maintains the balance of natural ecology, the protection of some wild animals has achieved remarkable results.
According to people's daily news, in 2021, the number of Tibetan antelopes on the mainland has increased from less than 70,000 in the 1980s and 1990s to about 300,000 at present, and the level of protection has also been downgraded from endangered to near-threatened species; The number of national treasure giant pandas in the wild has reached more than 1,800, and the level of threat has been reduced from endangered to vulnerable; Crested ibises recovered from 7 at the time of discovery to more than 5,000; Endangered wild horses and elk re-establish wild populations; The rapid decline in the population of the Yangtze River finless porpoise has been curbed.........
Endangered species such as wild giant pandas and Tibetan antelopes continue to be "downgraded", and rare and endangered wild animals such as the Siberian tiger entering the village and the Asian elephant migrating north frequently appear, behind which is the continuous improvement of the biodiversity of the mainland, the enhancement of the awareness of wildlife protection in the whole society, the strengthening of the fight against poaching, and the true portrayal of the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
But we can't let our guard down yet, as many wildlife are still endangered. Wildlife protection work has a long way to go, it needs to be done for a long time, continue to work hard, perseverance, only to do more refined and more powerful protection work, in order to continue to create a new situation in wildlife protection, in order to continue to avoid the tragedy of biological extinction, there will be more good news of demotion.
[Source: Jiupai News Comprehensive Guardian, Royal Society Open Science, Qilu Evening News, Chengdu Release, People's Daily, etc.]
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