Yangtze River Dolphin (Baiji) Population: Functionally Extinct

As of 2020, the Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer, or baiji) is considered functionally extinct. The last confirmed wild sighting was in 2002. A 2006 dedicated survey (3,400 km of river) found zero individuals. IUCN lists it as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

Decline Timeline

• 1950s: ~6,000 estimated
• 1980s: ~400
• 1990s: ~100
• 1997 survey: 13
• 2002: Last verified sighting (Qi Qi, captive male, died 2002)
• 2006 survey: 0 detected

Drivers of Extinction

• Bycatch: Entanglement in gillnets, rolling hooks, electrofishing
• Habitat degradation: Three Gorges Dam, dredging, bank hardening, loss of floodplain lakes
• Pollution: Industrial, agricultural, municipal waste
• Vessel traffic: Collisions, noise disrupting echolocation
• Prey depletion: Overfishing of food species

Conservation Efforts (Too Late)

Captive breeding attempted (only one male, Qi Qi, ever held). Semi-natural reserve (Tian'e Zhou Oxbow) established for Yangtze finless porpoise—now the focus of cetacean conservation in the river.

Significance

The baiji is the first cetacean driven to extinction by human activity. Its loss signals the Yangtze's ecological collapse. The finless porpoise (~1,000 remaining) faces identical threats.

"Functionally extinct" means too few individuals remain for viable reproduction. The baiji is gone—a warning written in the river's silence.