h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been reading some old Entries and been looking for some info on dolphins for my little one. Today I found out that the River Dolphin is now officially extinct and it happened in 2006.

Go here for a BBC report about it - http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6170000/newsid_6178300/6178363.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm

The Last Chance to See Entry has been updated to include the information. How did we miss that?

Hopefully the finless porpoise that lives in the waters of the Yangtze won't suffer the same fate.

Go here for more about the Baiji - http://www.baiji.org/start.html

and the campaign to keep other species alive.

You see the phrase 'threatened with extinction' so often, it's easy to forget that the threat is sometimes carried out.

The Yangtze River Dolphin was one of those hovering on the fringes of my consciousness, just as it was hovering on the brink of ceasing to exist. I feel crap now

Yeah, I feel crappy too. I intend to go out tonight and have a few drinks in its memory. I might even force myself to have a Fosters, that's the closest thing there is to Yangtze River water.

How sad that we have lost yet another individual species of animal

I'm struggling to inject some cheery note into what is very clearly a slightly depressed conversation. If I had a webcam, I'd show you our collection of rodents (8 syrian hamsters, 3 dwarf hamsters, 2 rats) but instead you will just have to picture them in your minds, sorry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6969226.stm

Perhaps it's not gone?

But then again, perhaps it's the Chinese trying desperately to prove they haven't killed off the animal so tourists will still visit...call me cynical if you like.

I had the same thought. Let's see if anyone else can find the thing first. Besides, if it's only one, is that of any long term use?

somebody will try and mate with it, I'm sure...

Where's Peter Stringfellow on holiday this year?