On Line Times
From The Times
August 8, 2007
River dolphin is wiped out
Mark Henderson, Science Editor

A species of dolphin has been driven to extinction by human activity for the first time, scientists confirmed yesterday.

A six-week survey of the entire habitat range of the Yangtze river dolphin, or baiji, which is found only in the great Chinese river system, found no evidence for its survival. The dolphin is the first large vertebrate to become extinct for more than 50 years. It is also the only species of cetacean, the order of mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises, to have died out because of human influence.

Its disappearance has been blamed on fishing nets that inadvertently trap and drown the dolphins, and on degradation of its habitat.