Comments on: Baiji Declared Extinct

By: czenquirer

czenquirer — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 14:45:08 +0000

As Loren Colman has suggested, it seems that the baiji has become the latest cryptozoological animal.

By: Sordes

Sordes — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:57:53 +0000

In fact this animal was even commercially hunted during the time under Mao, and only about 50 years ago, it was still comparably common, but the pollution and the many ships were surely also one of the main factors for its extinction.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 01:56:01 +0000

Following yesterday’s news of the likely extinction of the Chinese river dolphin, Nat Geo announces today that the world’s smallest porpoise - the Vaquita - is facing extinction with only 250 - 400 individuals left; fishing net entanglements the prime culprit.

This one lives off the coasts of Mexico.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 14:23:30 +0000

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for this species, but it’s increasingly likely to be the freight train known as humanity.

If, as the saying goes, everytime a person dies a library burns, how much more do we lose when an entire species dies?

By: elsanto

elsanto — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 04:03:12 +0000

A wake-up call for China? Given that they have no concept whatsoever of human rights (just talk to some Tibetans sometime), do the Chinese have any capacity at all to recognize the value of an entire animal species?

By: SouthEasternWendigo

SouthEasternWendigo — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:14:36 +0000

So sad, to survive for so long and to be snuffed out so easily.

We have to treat our environment with kid gloves. It isn’t just ours, it’s theirs too.

What a shame.

By: t3hbigv

t3hbigv — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 19:29:10 +0000

Sad, sad news.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:01:39 +0000

It’s funny that pollution was mentioned here as one of the causes. The article I read states that the scientists said it did not appear that pollution was the culprit. It says here that a Dr. Pfluger said in a telephone interview “The river is highly polluted, but if people say that pollution killed the dolphins, that’s just not true. It’s not a toxically polluted river.” The article stated overfishing, habitat loss, and collisions with boats as the main culprits. Another cetacean in the river that is facing a rapid decline is th Yangtze finless porpoise. The population was 5,000 in the 1980’s down to 400 on this latest excursion. Pretty scary. It’s sad as the baiji was considered one of the world’s oldest species, beleived to date back as far as 20 million years. Amazing what humans can do in just a few decades.

By: btgoss

btgoss — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:40:55 +0000

This will happen more in China than in any other place, at any other time. China is in boom-town mode times 2.
It is sad, but the chances of it stopping now are very slim. We can only hope this can be a wake-up call for China.

By: sadisticgreen

sadisticgreen — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:59:27 +0000

Couldn’t agree more with “TheHunter”. What a pathetic reason for the destruction of a species. The fact is Humans will continue to abuse the planet at the expense of of other “less advanced” species to make our own lives easier right up until we pass the point of no return. We’ll eventually destroy ourselves which can only be of benefit to the planet and whatever creatures manage to survive that long.