The mascot of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover, the Chinese white dolphin is listed as a “Grade 1 National Key Protected Species” in mainland China. A 2019 government report indicates that the number of Chinese white dolphins living in the Hong Kong water fell to a “historic low” population of just 32. 

Meanwhile, a 2020 report conducted by wildlife research program Hong Kong Cetacean Research Project cited that newborns and young calves comprised just 2.5 per cent of the total Chinese white dolphin population sighted in Hong Kong, compared to 7.9 per cent in 2003. The low birth rate may eventually lead to regional extinction as there are not enough new dolphins to sustain the population, says the report.