Chinese dolphin or Baiji, one of the world’s most rare and threatened mammal species, “has been declared officially extinct following an intensive survey of its natural habitat.” From The Guardian:
The freshwater marine mammal, which could grow to eight feet long and weigh up to a quarter of a tonne, is the first large vertebrate forced to extinction by human activity in 50 years, and only the fourth time an entire evolutionary line of mammals has vanished from the face of the Earth since the year 1500.
Conservationists described the extinction as a “shocking tragedy” yesterday, caused not by active persecution but accidentally and carelessly through a combination of factors including unsustainable fishing and mass shipping….[Full Text]
– [Image from The Guardian]
– Read China Daily’s coverage here
– Read more related reports here via CDT
