A couple of years ago I wrote about the extinction of the Baiji — or Yangtze River Dolphin — and now, as the BBC reports, it looks like another large inhabitant of the Yangtze is on the verge of following it, if it hasn’t already done so.

One of only two extant species of Paddlefish, the Chinese Paddlefish (Psephurus gladius,) which, with reported sizes up to 7m long, may also be the world’s largest freshwater fish¹ has not been detected at all on a recent survey. The team do admit that it’s quite possible for isolated individuals to have escaped detection due to the sheer size of the area surveyed, but point out that the environment can no longer support a viable breeding population, and that unless some specimens can be caught in time to begin a captive conservation programme the species is doomed.

It’s depressing to be writing about the extinction of another large, ecologically important species so soon after the Baiji — doubly so since it was native to the same river system — and it’s no comfort at all to know that there will have been plenty of other, less-visible (but no less tragic) extinctions in the same period, or that this is unlikely to be the last.

1. it is currently not clear — and now may never be — whether the animal spends it’s entire life in fresh water [↩]

A little under a year ago, I blogged that the Baiji, or Yangtzi River Dolphin was extinct. Well, I’m extremely happy to report that we may have been a little premature in writing them off. The BBC is now reporting that earlier this month, a Chinese fisherman saw and filmed what was most likely a Baiji swimming near the surface, and jumping from the water several times.

Even if this is confirmed as a live Baiji, it doesn’t mean that there’s a viable wild breeding population. In fact it’s quite unlikely, but it raises some hope that enough live specimens might yet be found to establish a captive breeding program, which could yet bring them back from the very brink of extinction.

If this teaches us anything, it’s that we shouldn’t be too quick to write off any species as extinct, just because we can’t see them. As the man said; “life finds a way.”

AP is reporting that after a depressingly rapid decline, the Baiji, or White Dolphin, of the Yangtze River has succumbed to a combination of overfishing, habitat destruction and heavy river traffic (which interfered with the animal’s sonar.)

The report is not unexpected (Baiji have been on the brink for years now,) but it is a sombre moment; this is a large mammalian species (the first in my lifetime) that has been driven to extinction by human activity. It’s hard to believe that an animal that had a viable breeding population in the 1980’s should have disappeared entirely. They were present recently enough that we have high resolution digital photos of them, websites about them, the ability to communicate their demise (and unsuccessfully attempt to forestall it) across the entire world in seconds, and yet, somehow, we let the creatures themselves slip through our fingers. That speaks of dubious priorities to me.

Let’s just hope that we, as a species, can learn from our mistakes.

And, yes, I thought of the obvious title, but John Lynch beat me to it.