For quite a long time, environmentalists have feared for China's Yangtze River Dolphins (or Baiji). Rampant over fishing and destruction of habitat have taken their toll. A 6-week study found not a trace of the dolphin, which diverged from other water mammals 20+ million years ago. The study group now classifies the animal as extinct.
BBC
Quote:
If confirmed, it would be the first extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years........"Unlike most historical-era extinctions of large bodied animals, the baiji was the victim not of active persecution but incidental mortality resulting from massive-scale human environmental impacts - primarily uncontrolled and unselective fishing," the researchers concluded.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.....
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