Back last December I reported that the Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) was "effectively extinct". Now I must report that the species has been declared officially extinct, the first official extinction of a large vertebrate for more than 50 years.
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AP is reporting that the Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) is "effectively extinct" following a 20 million year existence on this planet. A six week search yielded no sightings, down from thirteen sightings in 1997. It is believed that overfishing and sub-aquatic sonar pollution led to…
China's white dolphin called extinct after 20 million years:
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…
They say extinction is the only real certainty. Species are constantly blinking in and out of existence. This may or may not be of concern depending on your scale of interest. In 2007 we're doing all sorts of things to pillage and plunder life on this incarnation of planet earth, but of course…
First, the bad news: the current issue of Biology Letters reports the extinction of the baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin, in what amounts to the official publication of an earlier announcement that the species could no longer be found in its already limited habitat. That would make the baiji (…
This is terrible!
I first heard of the Yangtze River dolphin in Douglas Adams' appropriately named Last Chance to See. That book inspired me to donate to the World Wildlife Fund. (Unfortunately, I can't afford to donate to the more specific charities.)
Adams, from Last Chance to See:
I sure hope we're able to nurture in our great-grandchildren a healthy appreciation of vermin species; at this rate that's all they'll have left.
Why am I not surprised that this took place in China... :-\
A longer extract from Adams' great book is here.