Baiji

This article is about the dolphin. For other uses, see Baiji (disambiguation).

Baiji[1]
Qiqi, the last confirmed baiji, who died in 2002
Size compared to an average human

Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Clade: Delphinida
Superfamily: Lipotoidea
Family: Lipotidae
Genus: Lipotes
Miller, 1918[4]
Species:
L. vexillifer
Binomial name
Lipotes vexillifer
Miller, 1918[4]
Natural range of the baiji

The baiji (Chinese: 白鱀豚; pinyin: báijìtún; IPA: [pǎɪtɕîtʰwə̌n] ⓘ; Lipotes vexillifer, Lipotes meaning "left behind" and vexillifer "flag bearer") is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolphin species driven to extinction due to the impact of humans. This dolphin is listed as “critically endangered: possibly extinct” by the IUCN, has not been seen in 40 years, and several surveys of the Yangtze have failed to find it. In China, the species is also called the Chinese river dolphin, Han river dolphin, Yangtze dolphin and whitefin dolphin. Nicknamed the "Goddess of the Yangtze" (simplified Chinese: 长江女神; traditional Chinese: 長江女神; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng nǚshén), it was regarded as the goddess of protection by local fishermen and boatmen.[5] It is not to be confused with the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) or the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides). This is the only species in the genus Lipotes.

The baiji population declined drastically in decades as China industrialized and made heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity. Following surveys in the Yangtze River during the 1980s, the baiji was claimed to be the first dolphin species in history driven to extinction by humans.[6] A Conservation Action Plan for Cetaceans of the Yangtze River was approved by the Chinese Government in 2001.[6] Efforts were made to conserve the species, but a late 2006 expedition failed to find any baiji in the river. Organizers declared the baiji functionally extinct.[7] The baiji represents the first documented global extinction of an aquatic "megafaunal" vertebrate in over 50 years[8] since the demise of the Japanese sea lion (Zalophus japonicus) and the Caribbean monk seal (Neomonachus tropicalis) in the 1950s. It also signified the disappearance of an entire mammal family of river dolphins (Lipotidae).[8] The baiji's extinction would be the first recorded extinction of a well-studied cetacean species (it is unclear if some previously extinct varieties were species or subspecies) to be directly attributable to human influence. The baiji is one of a number of extinctions to have taken place due to the degradation of the Yangtze, alongside that of the Chinese paddlefish, as well as the now extinct in the wild Yangtze sturgeon.

Swiss economist and CEO of the baiji.org Foundation August Pfluger funded an expedition in which an international team, taken in part from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Fisheries Research Agency in Japan, searched for six weeks for signs of the dolphin. The search took place almost a decade after the last exploration in 1997, which turned up only 13 of the cetaceans.[9]

In August 2007, a Chinese man reportedly videotaped a large white animal swimming in the Yangtze.[10] Although the animal was tentatively identified as a baiji,[11] the presence of only one or a few animals, particularly of advanced age, is not enough to save a functionally extinct species from true extinction. The last known living baiji was Qiqi (淇淇), who died in 2002. The World Wildlife Fund is calling for the preservation of any possible baiji habitat, in case the species is located and can be revived.[9]

  1. ^ Mead, J. G.; Brownell, R. L. Jr. (2005). "Order Cetacea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 723–743. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Smith, B.D.; Wang, D.; Braulik, G.T.; Reeves, R.; Zhou, K.; Barlow, J.; Pitman, R.L. (2017). "Lipotes vexillifer". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T12119A50362206. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T12119A50362206.en. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Miller, Gerrit S. Jr. (1918). "A new river-dolphin from China". Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 68 (9): 1–12.
  5. ^ NOAA Fisheries. "Chinese River Dolphin / Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer)  :: NOAA Fisheries". www.fisheries.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Wang, Ding; Zhang, Xianfeng; Wang, Kexiong; Wei, Zhuo; Wursig, Bernd; Braulik, Gillian T.; Ellis, Susie (June 2006). "Conservation of the Baiji: No Simple Solution". Conservation Biology. 20 (3). Society for Conservation Biology: 623–625. Bibcode:2006ConBi..20..623W. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00471.x. PMID 16909544. S2CID 7024386. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. ^ Lovgren, Stefan (December 14, 2006). "China's Rare River Dolphin Now Extinct, Experts Announce". National Geographic News. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on December 18, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Baiji". IUCN SSC – Cetacean Specialist Group. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-29. This represents not only the first documented global extinction of an aquatic 'megafaunal' vertebrate for over 50 years, but also the disappearance of an entire mammal family (Lipotidae).
  9. ^ a b DeMoss, Jennifer (2007). "Species at Risk Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer)" (PDF). Endangered Species Update. 24 (1). University of Michigan: 24–25. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  10. ^ "Rare Dolphin Seen in China, Experts Say". The New York Times. Reuters. August 30, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  11. ^ "White Dolphin Appears From the Brink". AFP. August 29, 2007. Archived from the original on September 4, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2007.