Yangtze River dolphin 'extinct'
Wednesday, 08 Aug 2007 08:31
The Yangtze river dolphin
Human activity has driven the Yangtze river dolphin to extinction, an international team of scientists has concluded.
It is the first time in 50 years that a large vertebrate has become extinct and the species of dolphin is the first cetacean (whale, dolphin or porpoise) to be destroyed because of humans.
A comprehensive survey of the creature's habitat was undertaken for six weeks at the end of 2006. Scientists were hoping to place any dolphins that they found in a nearby oxbow lake where a captive breeding programme would be undertaken.
But not a single individual was found, leading the scientists to conclude that the species of dolphin is now extinct.
Conservationists believe the main cause of its disappearance was the accidental death of large numbers of dolphins in fishing gear, rather than active persecution.
The survey and its findings are published today in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters.
Dr Sam Turvey of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the paper's lead author, said: "The loss of such a unique and charismatic species is a shocking tragedy. The Yangtze river dolphin was a remarkable mammal that separated from all other species over 20 million years ago.
"This extinction represents the disappearance of a complete branch of the evolutionary tree of life and emphasises that we have yet to take full responsibility in our role as guardians of the planet."