Fit for porpoise - China races to save last Yangtze river mammal

A porpoise is pictured at the Yangtze river near the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China August 21, 2019. Picture taken August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

NANJING, China (Reuters) - On a short stretch of the Yangtze river, three sleek grey porpoises twist in muddy waters near the city of Nanjing, protected from passing barges and ships by a row of yellow buoys.

With only 1,000 remaining, the Yangtze finless porpoise is a symbol of the damage done to China's longest river in a decades-long campaign to tame floods, reclaim farmland and industrialize the regions along its banks.