Baiji (China's Yangtze River Dolphin)

Population size: Perhaps no more than 30, an intensive survey in 1997 found only 13 dolphins though there is some belief that this is due to insufficient surveying across its range.

Distribution: Currently limited to the main channel of the Yangtze River, in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze. The range has been drastically reduced due to damming projects along the upper reaches of the Yangtze that have prevented the dolphin from reaching tributaries and tributary lakes and degraded stretches of the river through erosion for many kilometers downstream. It was previously present in the Fuchan and Qiantang Rivers but disappeared following the construction of a high dam in 1957.

Threats: Incidental mortality through entrapment in fishing gear (notably bottom set longlines called ‘rolling hooks’), over fishing of prey species, electrofishing, gillnetting, dredging, underwater blasting with dynamite, collision with boats, pollution, general disturbance, degradation of habitat, reduction of range through damming projects and drainage for land reclamation.

Interesting Facts: Now the rarest of all the World’s cetaceans, the Latin name for the baiji means “the flag bearer that was left behind� bearing reference to its whitish dorsal fin, which appears like a flag waved across the surface of the water. The Chinese name ‘baiji’ means white, although it is a pale blue to white colour. The baiji has been declared a National Treasure by the Chinese government but the current rate of decline of the Yangtze River environment has meant that all hopes of saving the dolphin are now focused on extracting what remains of the wild population and translocating them in to an oxbow lake designated as a semi-natural reserve for the species. Tian-E-Zhou Oxbow is located near Shishou City where the environment can be closely monitored and maintained for the dolphins. So far, there have been no dolphins caught and translocated.