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Yangtze
Species
China’s geographic range and size afford the country a huge diversity of natural habitats. These characteristics also make it one of the world’s major centers of biodiversity. Blooming coral reefs, arid deserts, wind-swept glaciers and tropical rainforests are all found here. Despite extensive reclamation, China also has the largest area of wetlands in Asia.
The Central Yangtze River and Lakes are known to be an important wintering and stopover site for large numbers of migratory birds, including an estimated 95 percent of the world's Siberian crane population. The region is known to support 200 species of fish, more than 84 species of mammals, 60 species of amphibians, and 87 species of reptiles.
China's commitment to protect giant pandas is a Gift to the Earth.
© WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey
The giant panda is universally loved, and has a special significance for WWF as it has been the organization's symbol since it was formed in 1961.
The unique physical features of the species include broad, flat molars and an enlarged wrist bone that functions as an opposable thumb - both of these adaptations are used for holding, crushing and eating bamboo. Giant pandas are classified as bears and have the digestive system of a carnivore, but they have adapted to a vegetarian diet and depend almost exclusively on bamboo as a food source.
Today, the giant panda's future remains uncertain. This peaceful, bamboo-eating member of the bear family faces a number of threats. Its forest habitat, in the mountainous areas of southwest China, is fragmented and giant panda populations are small and isolated from each other. Meanwhile, poaching remains an ever-present threat.
Yangtze river dolphin
The Critically Endangered Yangtze river dolphin, or baiji, is one of seven freshwater dolphin species. It once lived in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Fuchun River, and in Dongting and Poyang Lakes, China. Today it is the world's most endangered cetacean. Fewer than 100 were thought to survive in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, however a 2006 survey failed to sight any individuals, raising fears that the species is one step closer to extinction.
In August 2007, a reported sighting of this rare species was the first baiji found in the Yangtze since the 2006 survey.
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