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

Just subbing an entry on Douglas's book with Mark Carwardine, Last Chance to See. Stumbled across a report that the Yangtze River Dolphin, a species Doglas highlighted in his book as one of the most endangered species in the world, was last counted in 1997 as consisting of just 13 individuals.

The likelihood of two compatible Yangtze River Dolphins being able to repopulate the species is so infinitessimally small, so unlikely that we can only assume that they've now gone the way of the dodo. The sense of despair one feels over such a loss is indescribable.

Traveller in Time listing by heart
"Fresh water dolphin, white coloured, very low dorsal fin, slow breeder. Well I am afraid the last wil have gone then.
Some two years ago one was spotted, will try to find the reference. "

How terribly depressing. We're turning into Daleks- exterminating everything that isn't like us.

Apparently there are only five left now.

http://www.cetacea.org/baiji.htm

Although this article from 2002 says there were 100.

http://www.china.org.cn/english/environment/36657.htm

I was nearly in floods when I read the book for the first time, but reading that this morning was especially difficult.

I'm with you, GB -

Awful news....

Apparently there were just 13 in 1997, so the 2002 report sounds a bit off, if the WWF stats are accurate. The last one in captivity died in 2002.

The only upside is that estimating sizes of marine populations of animals/fish/mammels is amazingly difficult to do, so we can but hope that the population is still viable but just not letting itself be counted

I tried to find a recent dated article, but there didn't seem to be one about.