Extinction is FOREVER

Chinese River Dolphin - Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer)

Updates

24 Dec, 1995 China - Rare Dolphin Found
21 Jan, 1996 Charity hopes to breed rare Chinese River Dolphins
06 Feb, 1996 Chinese River Dolphin draws closer to Extinction
25 Jul, 1996 Rare China Dolphin dies in Net
16 Oct, 1996 Rare China dolphin rescued from brink of death
16 Oct, 1996 Yangtze Dolphin Recovers from Illness
28 Oct, 1997 Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) - Chinese River Dolphin update


Date: Sun, 24 Dec 1995
Subject: China - Rare Dolphin Found

BEIJING (AP) -- After searching for three years, researchers have found one of the nearly extinct freshwater dolphins of the Yangtze River. The 10-year-old, 7 1/2-foot long female Baiji dolphin was captured Tuesday near the central industrial city of Wuhan and placed under observation in a dolphin reserve along the river, the China Daily reported today.

The Baiji (white fin) dolphins appeared 25 million years ago. Scientists value them as an important subject for the study of evolution and the development of mammals. China has only one other Baiji dolphin in captivity, a male named Qiqi (pronounced chee-chee). Fewer than 100 of this ancient species of dolphins are believed to remain in the Yangtze, China's longest river. With such small numbers remaining, it will be very difficult to save them from extinction, the official Beijing Review said in a report earlier this year. The newspaper quoted experts as saying the dolphins cannot survive 25 more years at the present rate of decline.

The Baiji dolphin lives only in the heavily polluted middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In this densely populated area, fertilizers and pesticides run off from the fields and waste spews from factories lining the river. In some places, its dark waters are frothy with pollution. The giant hydroelectric dams on the Yangtze pose another threat. The river is blocked by the Gezhouba dam in its middle reaches in Hubei province. The world's largest hydroelectric project is being built near Gezhouba in the Three Gorges. The dolphin are also threatened by a decline in fish stocks, increasing numbers of motor boats, and fishermen who catch them illegally or accidentally.

The newspaper held out some hope for the Baiji, because Qiqi finally has a chance to mate. Chances the pair will mate and produce offspring are, unfortunately, slim. Qiqi, who has been alone and swimming in circles around a 10-yard-diameter pool for 10 years, is 18, somewhat old for successful reproduction, the report said.
"Thank heaven, our darling boy will now have a mate and possibly offspring to escape extinction," the report quoted an unidentified expert as saying.

The number of Baiji dolphins fell drastically from 6,000 in the 1950s to 400 in 1984. Last year, the Chinese estimated that fewer than 100 remain.


Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996
Charity hopes to breed rare Chinese river dolphins

LONDON (Reuter) - A British-based conservation charity said Friday it had found a rare Baiji river dolphin in China's Yangtse river and taken it to a reserve, where the charity hoped it might eventually mate.

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said there were probably less than 50 of the dolphins left in the increasingly polluted Yangtse, and the species was in real danger of becoming extinct. The captured dolphin, a female, is now in the semi-natural Shishou reserve in Wuhan province.

The society hopes arrangements can be made with the Chinese authorities for it to mate with a male dolphin which is the only surviving Baiji in captivity in China.
"This is a desperate last attempt to save this precious river dolphin from extinction until a time when the Yangtse can support Baiji once more," said the society's Conservation Director, Alison Smith.

The Baiji dolphin -- one of only five species of river dolphin in the world -- has a blueish grey body with a white underside, weighs between 220 and 350 pounds and can grow to a length of eight feet.


Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1996
Chinese river dolphin draws closer to extinction

BEIJING, (Reuter) - China's endangered Yangtze river dolphin has drawn closer to extinction with the death last month of a large female, apparently electrocuted by fishermen, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday.

Fewer than 100 river dolphins survive in the mighty Yangtze and could be extinct within 25 years unless action was taken now, the newspaper said.

The dolphin was found dying in the lower reaches of the river, the newspaper said. The mammal, which later died, weighed 160 kg (352 lb) and measured 2.45 metres (eight ft) -- the largest ever found. It appeared to have suffered an electric shock, probably caused accidentally by local fishermen, the newspaper quoted professor Zhou Kaiya, of the Nanjing Normal University in southern Jiangsu province, as saying.

The Fisheries Bureau is to hold a seminar next week to discuss strenghtening policies to protect the river dolphin, the newspaper said. Since 1986, when the dolphins numbered 300, one natural and two semi-natural reserves have been set up along the Yangtze but the efforts have failed to stop the sharp drop in their population.

Meanwhile, zoologists hope that another female white-fin dolphin caught in December after a four-year search will mate with an elderly male in the Tian-e-zhou National Baiji reserve. But the reserve has limited resources and needs 20 pairs to save the species from extinction, the newspaper said. The dolphin's main enemies are water pollution, nets and other fishing tackle and the flourishing shipping business along the Yangtze.


Date: Thu, 25 Jul, 1996
Rare China Dolphin dies in Net

BEIJING, (UPI) -- Examination of a nearly extinct Yangtze River dolphin showed the animal died from suffocation after being hopelessly entangled in nets surrounding a reserve along the Yangtze River, China's Fisheries Bureau said Thursday. The 10-year-old dolphin -- found dead last month -- was the only one living in the Tian-e-zhou National Baiji Reserve after its capture last December, said Li Qianyun, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture.
"The death of the dolphin from such an unforeseen tragedy just illustrates how hard it is to protect it, even when all intentions are good and research on protection is solid," Li told the official China Daily.

Although Li estimated there are only 100 of the animals left alive in the Yangtse, reserve workers said they will try to capture two to three groups of dolphins within the next two years and relocate them in the 13-mile reserve section of the river.

It took three years of searching before researchers found the female dolphin near the central industrial city of Wuhan and placed it under observation. They contend the dolphin is one of the world's 12 most endangered animals. Without special protection and at the present rate of decline, the 25-million-year-old species will completely vanish in 25 years, they said.

The 7.5-foot Baiji (white fin) dolphin normally swam with a pod of black finless porpoises in the reserve, until this April when it began to leave the pod more often and swim at the course entrance. The dolphin may have been in estrous during the spring, Li said, and was probably weakened by the serious flooding conditions in the reserve.
"Before its death, the dolphin was frail and ailing, and experts experienced great difficulty treating it in the water," Li added.

The Baiji dolphins live only in the heavily polluted middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze. They are not only threatened by fertilizers and pesticides running into theriver, but a decline in fish stocks and the construction of giant dams such as the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project.


Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996
Rare China dolphin rescued from brink of death

BEIJING, (Reuter) - A captive Yangtze river dolphin, one of China's rarest animals, has just become a little less endangered after recovering from a life-threatening illness, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Researchers at the Wuhan Research Institute of Hydrobiology in the central province of Hubei had fought for months to save the ailing Qiqi from liver disease and diabetes after the animal fell ill last April, Xinhua said.
"For months, several experts from the research institute gave up their spare time to help save Qiqi's life," Xinhua said.

It was the second time the marine mammal, the only one in captivity, had fallen sick in 17 years of captivity. Experts in Japan, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan had called Chinese dolphin doctors with advice on how to treat the rare animal, it said.

Fewer than 100 Yangtze river dolphins are believed to be alive and experts fear the animalcould be extinct within 25 years as industry and shipping disrupt their river habitat.


Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996
Yangtze Dolphin Recovers from Illness

WUHAN (XINHUA) - The world's only adopted Yangtze dolphin has recovered from liver disease and diabetes, according to researchers at the Wuhan Research Institute of Hydrobiology.

The dolphin, named Qiqi, was adopted by the research institute in January of 1980. It fell ill in April, for the second time in nearly 17 years.

For months, several experts from the research institute gave up their spare time to help save Qiqi's life. Experts in Japan, the United States, and Hong Kong, Taiwan, and elsewhere in China also offered suggestions, via telephone, for the treatment of Qiqi's illnesses.

The now-healthy dolphin leads a normal life at the research institute, located in central China's Hubei Province.


Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997
Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) - Chinese River Dolphin update:
  • The world's first major museum exhibition on the Chinese River Dolphin: "Baiji: Treasure in the Yangtze River" opened August 8, 1997 and recently completed a successful three month run at Beijing Natural History Museum. The exhibit was co-sponsored by the Museum; Ocean Park Conservation
  • Foundation, Hong Kong; Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation; and Green Earth Volunteers; and was covered extensively by all major media in China. The exhibition focused attention on the baiji and the deterioting condition of the
  • Yangtze River; and educated the public through accompanying slide programs, puppet shows and media news stories on the plight of the baiji. The exhibition is scheduled to travel to museums in Wuhan, Shanghai and Dalian over the coming year.
  • Official estimates in China put the remaining population of the world's most endangered dolphin at fewer than 100 individuals. Entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with ships continue to be the
  • main threats. The Three Gorges Dam will alter the ecology of the river dramatically and if any baiji remain after the dam is completed, they will be impacted by the changes in the riverine ecosystem.
  • In a broader sense, the museum exhibition was designed to use the demise of the baiji to focus China's emerging environmental movement and assist new environmental conservation organizations with public exposure; and to create a new level of environmental awareness in China. Media
  • broadcasts, hands-on education activities, and information booths at the opening helped inform the public and demonstrate ways that they can become involved in action to conserve and protect China's endangered environments and species.
  • The exhibition will be the first in a yearly series of endangered species exhibits sponsored by the museum. (In 98 and 99 the tiger and golden monkey will be subjects).
  • For several years, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation has taken a very active role in supporting baiji research and education, and will continue to assist with the development of marine mammal conservation programs in China.
  • Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation is a newly forming organization with the main goal of conducting public education campaigns to increase environmental awareness. In two major fund raising programs they have secured sufficient funding to apply to the government for official status as a 'foundation' and will soon commence on an active education campaign.
  • Following the exhibition opening, Green Earth Volunteers mounted an environmental campaign focused on the baiji and the protection of the Yangtze River. 50 school childrend raised money to make a field trip south to the Yangtze River and Wuhan, where they were joined by more students in
  • placing "Together We Can Save the Baiji" posters on boats and businesses along the river.
  • The Ministry of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries (Aquatic Wildlife Protection Division) in conjunction with the Institute of Hydrobiology, Department of River Dolphin Research, will conduct a river-wide one week survey/census expedition in early November, 1997. 52 boats and several hundred fisheries observers will simultaneously survey the Yangtze River from the Three Gorges to Shanghai for baiji. This unprecidented and unified effort should provide reliable estimates of the number of surviving baiji.
  • Chinese scientists at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Wuhan are currently analyzing data from baiji census surveys made between 1978 and the present, and will submit comprehensive scientific reports to western journals for publication in the near future.
  • Qi Qi, the world's only captive baiji continues to do well at the Institute of Hydrobiology, River Dolphin Research Department Dolphinarium on East Lake in Wuhan.


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