Remember... Extinction Is Forever.

[Virgo10]

China's white dolphin extinct after 20 million years


BEIJING, China (AP) -- An expedition searching for a rare Yangtze River dolphin ended Wednesday without a single sighting and with the team's leader saying one of the world's oldest species was effectively extinct.

The white dolphin known as baiji, shy and nearly blind, dates back some 20 million years. Its disappearance is believed to be the first time in a half-century, since hunting killed off the Caribbean monk seal, that a large aquatic mammal has been driven to extinction.

A few baiji may still exist in their native Yangtze habitat in eastern China but not in sufficient numbers to breed and ward off extinction, said August Pfluger, the Swiss co-leader of the joint Chinese-foreign expedition.

The Rest of the Story

 

[Laura]

That's so sad.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Sad and tragic.

 

[mickeyfan2]

That's sad. He is so cute.

 

[MosMom]

Wildlife doesn't stand a chance when put up next to a billion people and rising 10 million per year. The three gorges dam didn't help either. It is a real shame. The Yangtze River Dolphin was a truly unique species and it makes me sick to think they are gone forever.

A similar species, the Boto or Amazon River Dolphin, is hanging in there but the Ganges/Indus river dolphin is threatened.

 

[Serena]