The population of Siberian cranes in Poyang Lake will also be affected by the dam. These species may soon be extinct, and the Three Gorges Dam will accelerate their decline. Paleontologists believe that its ancestors moved from land to water over 70 million years ago. Today's baiji is the last surviving species of this lineage, and it has been given the highest level of protection by the Chinese government. But fishing and river traffic have already depleted the baiji population.
Dams block access to tributaries and lakes where baiji once caught fish and nurtured their young.
There are fewer than one hundred dolphins alive today. Efforts to breed the baiji in captivity have failed. All potential mates for QiQi, the lone baiji male at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, have died in the transition to captivity. Siberian cranes feed on the frogs, mollusks, insects and fish in Poyang Lake, which is filled by the seasonal flooding of the Yangtze. The dam's control over the water that fills the lake would affect the animals living there.