Chinese river dolphin: Is the baiji still alive?

The last confirmed sighting of the baiji, also known as the Chinese river dolphin, is now more than 20 years ago. The IUCN therefore classifies the species as “Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)”. Scientifically, its continued existence is considered extremely unlikely, but occasional sighting reports and video recordings at least leave room for doubt. If any animals have survived, there are likely only very few.

The baiji was—or is—a slender, grey-white freshwater dolphin with a long, narrow snout, tiny eyes, and a small triangular dorsal fin with a rounded tip. Unlike marine dolphins, its vision was strongly reduced. Like other toothed whales (Odontoceti), it instead relied on echolocation. Reduced eyes evolved in all river dolphins over the course of evolution—probably because visibility is poor in turbid river and estuary waters (Zhou et al. 2013).

The Chinese river dolphin is one of only five dolphin species known today that live in freshwater. Although they are only distantly related, they resemble each other in many ways: they have long, narrow snouts, slender bodies, and pronounced acoustic abilities that help them compensate for their small eyes and poor eyesight. These parallels are an example of convergent evolution, i.e. the independent adaptation of different species to comparable habitats.

Relatively little is known about the behavior of the baiji, which occurred exclusively in a section of the Chinese river Jangtsekiang (short: Yangtze). The dolphins usually lived in small groups or—after they became rarer—as solitary animals. They fed only on fish and preferred calm, shallow sections of river with slowly flowing water.

If the baiji really is extinct, it would not be the only marine mammal that has disappeared in recent centuries due to human influence. Other species share this fate: for example the huge Steller’s sea cow, which was eradicated in 1768, the Caribbean monk seal (1950s), or the Japanese sea lion (1970s). What they all have in common is that their disappearance is closely linked to human actions.

The baiji—goddess of the Yangtze & cultural symbol

The Chinese river dolphin was not only biologically unique, but also deeply rooted in the region’s cultural consciousness. According to a widely known legend, it was revered as the reincarnation of a girl who threw herself into the Yangtze in despair: her greedy stepfather wanted to sell her on a boat, but when he himself became abusive, she jumped into the water. A storm destroyed the boat—and after the storm a beautiful dolphin appeared. People saw in it the soul of the girl, reborn in the river. Since then, the baiji has been regarded as the “goddess of the Yangtze”—a symbol of peace, purity, and prosperity (Maderspacher 2007).

Beyond mythology, too, the baiji was a significant symbolic animal in everyday Chinese culture. Its image adorned stamps, coins, and advertising motifs; its name appeared on products such as beer, cola, and shoes—even hotels carried it. As early as the early 1990s, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine reported in Last Chance to See that numerous consumer goods in China were named after the dolphin. In 2024, a stylized dolphin named “Tún Tún” was presented as the mascot of the canoe competition Hangzhou Super Cup.

The baiji stood for beauty, rarity, and a close connection to the Yangtze—for something one would want to preserve. And yet the real animal slowly vanished from the river.

Chinese river dolphin – fact sheet

alternative names	Baiji, Yangtze River dolphin, Yangtze dolphin, Changjiang dolphin, Chinese Lake dolphin, Whitefin dolphin, White flag dolphin, White-flag dolphin, Peh Ch’i
scientific name	Lipotes vexillifer
original range	middle and lower Yangtze River (China)
time of extinction	at the earliest 2002
causes of extinction	Habitat loss, water pollution, collisions with motorboats, bycatch in fishing nets, overfishing, dams, hunting, climate change
IUCN status	Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)

The discovery of the Chinese river dolphin

Western science only learned of the baiji’s existence in the early 20th century. At the time, the American Charles McCauley Hoy traveled to various countries to collect animals for the United States National Museum (today: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History). Hoy thus became the first Western researcher to discover—and kill—a specimen of the Chinese river dolphin in January 1914, in order to hand it over to the United States National Museum.

A few years later, in 1918, the American zoologist Gerrit S. Miller Jr. described the species in A New River Dophin from China. The first description was based on the material collected by Hoy: the skull and neck vertebrae of a baiji from Dongting Lake, about 600 kilometers upstream of the Yangtze. Hoy commented on the newly discovered dolphin species in several letters and conversations:

“Although I lived in China for several years, I saw this animal only in Dongting Lake and in its estuary. The locals call it Peh Ch’i, which (…) means ‘white flag’, because the dorsal fin, which they compare to a flag, is particularly conspicuous when it breaks the water’s surface. (…) To my knowledge, this animal occurs in large numbers only around the mouth of Dongting Lake. (…) Then they often appear in groups—usually three or four, sometimes also 10 to 12 animals.”

Miller, 1918.

In his description, Miller made it clear that the newly discovered river dolphin from China was by no means a known species such as the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), but rather a relic of an animal group that has almost completely disappeared: the Amazon river dolphins of the family Iniidae. They were widespread in the Miocene and Pliocene, but are now almost entirely extinct. Only a few species have survived into modern times, some described only in recent years: the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), the Bolivian river dolphin (I. boliviensis), the Araguaian river dolphin (I. araguaiaensis), the Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Indus river dolphin (P. minor)—and possibly the Chinese river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer).

As early as 1918, Miller emphasized that the baiji was a “living fossil”—evolutionarily closely related to the South American river dolphins, yet genetically and geographically isolated in the Yangtze for millions of years.

Modern genetic analyses confirm Miller’s assumption. A so-called retroposon analysis by Nikaido et al. (2001) found that the baiji split from the common lineage of today’s South American river dolphins about 21.5 million years ago. The Chinese river dolphin is therefore not closely related to any dolphin species living today. With its extinction, the world loses not only a species, but an independent evolutionary lineage almost 20 million years old.

Baiji: the only representative of the genus Lipotes

The Chinese river dolphin is the only known representative of the genus Lipotes, which was also described by Miller in 1918. Miller justified establishing this new genus by clear anatomical differences from the closest related river dolphin, the Amazon river dolphin (Inia). In his first description he wrote:

“In its generic characters, the skull of the Chinese dolphin differs so markedly from that of the genus Inia that placement in this genus is out of the question.”

Miller, 1918.

Miller explained that the rostrum (the beak-like snout) of the baiji is conspicuously longer and narrower than that of the Amazon river dolphin. In addition, the teeth are smaller and more numerous. The proportions of the braincase as well as other details of the skull architecture also differ clearly. Particularly striking is the infraorbital foramen, an opening below the eye—in the baiji it is significantly larger and more pronounced than in other river dolphin species.

Because of this combination of unique anatomical features, Miller decided to assign the Chinese dolphin to its own, monotypic genus. The name Lipotes comes from Ancient Greek and means something like “the one left behind”—a reference to the evolutionarily isolated position of this species among river dolphins.

A range that kept shrinking

The Chinese river dolphin was once a typical inhabitant of the Yangtze River—at 6,380 kilometers the longest river in Asia. Its original range extended for about 1,700 kilometers: from the estuary delta near the industrial metropolis of Shanghai to the city of Yichang in Hubei province. The baiji thus inhabited primarily the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze.

Occasionally it was also sighted in adjacent waters, including the Qiantang River in the south, its lower reach, the Fuchun River, as well as the two large inland lakes Dongting and Poyang. Dongting Lake in particular was long considered an important refuge. During high-water periods, the baiji also moved through flooded floodplains and side channels in the branching Yangtze system.

But over the course of the 20th century, the once extensive habitat began to shrink enormously. The construction of numerous dams between the 1950s and 1990s cut the animals off from many of their original migration routes and habitats. As a result, the population increasingly retreated into the middle Yangtze—especially into the quieter river section between Dongting and Poyang lakes. The baiji eventually disappeared completely from the lakes mentioned as well as from the Qiantang and Fuchun tributaries (Turvey et al., 2010).

As the baiji gradually vanished

Until the late 1970s, scientific research on the Chinese river dolphin in China was severely restricted. As the British zoologist Samuel T. Turvey describes in Witness to Extinction: How We Failed to Save the Yangtze River Dolphin (2008), biological research at that time was considered politically undesirable. The after-effects of the Cultural Revolution had weakened research institutions, and state control paralyzed scientific initiatives. The Chinese government’s focus was on industrialization, inland development, and economic self-sufficiency. Nature conservation and biodiversity research played no role—certainly not for a little-known animal species considered insignificant, like the baiji. Foreign scientists also had hardly any access to the Yangtze, and even Chinese researchers lacked resources, institutional support, and political backing for continuous field research.

Only with the scientific opening of China from the late 1970s did the situation change. Researchers such as dolphin expert Kaiya Zhou began the first systematic surveys. Between 1979 and 1981, according to the IUCN, the first reliable estimate of the baiji population was made. Earlier estimates from the 1950s still assumed around 6,000 animals across the entire Yangtze system (Liu, 2019). But with rapid economic growth and increasing use of the river, a massive decline began.

The documented population decline was alarmingly rapid:

• 1982: Zhou determined a population of only about 400 animals
• 1986: Peixun Chen and Yuanyu Hua (1989) estimated the population at 300 individuals.
• 1990: Only about 200 animals were counted.
• 1989–1991: In a 500-kilometer section of the Yangtze between Nanjing and Hukou, multiple surveys recorded a maximum of 12 individuals.
• November 1997: According to the Institute of Hydrobiology, 23 baijis, including a calf, were recorded—Turvey et al. (2007), however, speak of only 13 securely confirmed sightings.
• 1998: Only seven animals were documented.
• 2001: Last confirmed stranding of a female baiji.
• 2002: Last reliable proof of a wild baiji—a photograph. In the same year, the last animal kept in human care, the male Qi Qi, died.

In retrospect, scientists estimate that the total population of the Chinese river dolphin had already shrunk to fewer than 100 individuals in the early 1990s—across a historical range of around 1,700 kilometers of river length.

Qi Qi: the best-known Chinese river dolphin

On January 12, 1980, a injured male river dolphin was found in Dongting Lake—entangled in a fishing net and with several fishhooks embedded in its body. For treatment, it was taken to the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan—and survived. The dolphin was given the name Qi Qi (白鱀豚) and for more than 22 years remained the only long-term cared-for specimen of its species in human custody. On July 14, 2002, it died of old age.

A year after its rescue, the institute set up a dedicated baiji dolphinarium, modernized in 1992. The facility was intended to give the dolphin a quieter life away from ship noise, fishing nets, and pollution—and at the same time enable scientific observations. It included indoor and outdoor enclosures, a water filtration system, laboratories, a feed kitchen, storage rooms, and a small museum. Tourist revenue was also intended to help finance the project. However, the pools were relatively small; the facility was not designed to keep multiple animals permanently.

Qi Qi became a symbol figure for nature conservation in China. It gained international recognition through Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, who visited it in 1990 as part of their BBC series Last Chance to See. In their book Die Letzten ihrer Art (1991), they described their visit to Wuhan.

The hope of being able to use Qi Qi for a breeding program never materialized: a sexually mature female, captured at the end of 1995 and taken to the Tian-e-Zhou reserve, died after just seven months as a result of a flood. Another animal, captured in 1998 near Shanghai, refused food and died after a few weeks.

Qi Qi showed that a Chinese river dolphin can in principle survive in human care, but it remained the only baiji for which this succeeded in the long term. With its death in 2002, the last captive-breeding effort for the species ended as well.

This video shows historical footage of Qi Qi:

In search of the Chinese river dolphin

Almost a decade after the last major population survey in 1997, which counted only 13 to 23 individuals, the Swiss economist August Pfluger, managing director of the baiji.org Foundation, initiated a new, comprehensive search. He financed a six-week expedition in which an international team searched for the Chinese river dolphin.

The expedition was led by Samuel T. Turvey and took place from November to December 2006. The aim was to systematically examine the baiji’s entire historical range between Yichang and Shanghai. The search combined state-of-the-art acoustic and visual methods: two research vessels scoured the two riverbanks of the Yangtze in parallel, supported by a hydrophone that continuously listened for the dolphin’s characteristic echolocation sounds.

Despite the great effort, the search was unsuccessful—not a single baiji was seen or heard. In their paper First human-caused extinction of a cetacean species? (2007), the authors came to a sobering conclusion:

“The baiji is now probably extinct, or at least functionally extinct.”

Turvey et al., 2007.

This was the first suggestion worldwide to regard the species as functionally extinct. Even if individual animals still existed, a reproductive population was extremely unlikely. The researchers continue:

“This is the first global extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years, the fourth disappearance of an entire mammal family since AD 1500, and the first cetacean species to be exterminated by human activities. Immediate and drastic measures may be required to prevent the extinction of other endangered cetaceans, including the sympatric Yangtze finless porpoise (…).”

Turvey et al., 2007.

Later surveys also produced no evidence of surviving baijis. In 2012, hydrobiologist Zhigang Mei and his team conducted a comprehensive count of Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis)—also in the Yangtze and its adjacent lakes. But here too, the baiji remained invisible. In The Yangtze finless porpoise: On an accelerating path to extinction? Mei et al. (2014) drew an alarming comparison:

“The baiji disappeared before we fully realized how close it was to extinction. Now the Yangtze finless porpoise is following a similar trajectory.”

Mei et al., 2014.

Indeed, between 2006 and 2012 the researchers recorded an annual decline of the finless porpoise population of 13.7%—a parallel to the baiji’s earlier decline.

An official reassessment was ultimately carried out by the US agency NOAA/NMFS, which, as part of a 5-year review (2025), confirmed that since 2006 neither sightings nor acoustic detections nor carcass finds of the baiji have been documented.

Baiji sightings: reason for hope?

Since the unsuccessful search for the Chinese river dolphin in 2006, reports of possible observations have repeatedly circulated. So far, however, none of the sightings has been scientifically confirmed beyond doubt.

2007: video from Tongling

In August 2007, a video recording from the Tongling Nature Reserve for freshwater dolphins in China’s eastern Anhui province attracted worldwide attention. A man had filmed a large, white animal that repeatedly jumped out of the water at a distance of about one kilometer in the Yangtze. The state news agency Xinhua reported on the incident.

Although some experts at the Institute of Hydrobiology initially considered a baiji sighting possible, later assessments—including by Turvey (2008)—point more to a Yangtze finless porpoise.

2016: unconfirmed observations near Wuhu

In October 2016, amateur conservationists reported that during a seven-day expedition on the Yangtze near Wuhu they saw a large, white animal surface three times. Some local fishermen also independently confirmed that it could have been a baiji. No image or audio material exists.

The observations were taken up, among others, by the British Guardian (2016). Expedition leader Song Qi told the media that no other animal could jump like that out of the river—while at the same time conceding that he was not a dolphin expert. In an email to the Guardian, Turvey urged restraint: without clear evidence such as photos, DNA traces, or acoustic recordings, one could not speak of a rediscovery. Instead, he argued that the focus should be on the Yangtze finless porpoises that are acutely threatened with extinction.

2017: yet another video

In 2017, the environmental foundation CBCGDF (China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation) published a video that allegedly showed a baiji. But according to experts, the visible features speak for a finless porpoise: a rounded back, round head, and the absence of a dorsal fin and snout. The consensus is that this observation most likely does not show a baiji (Parsons et al., 2025).

2018: a baiji among finless porpoises?

During a CBCGDF expedition in April 2018, river wardens near Tongling observed a strikingly pale animal that surfaced together with a group of finless porpoises. Two photos show an animal with light coloration and a long snout—features reminiscent of the baiji. The online magazine The World of Chinese reported on the sighting in 2019, but pointed out the difficult lighting conditions and the great distance at which the photos were taken.

Although participants considered the animal a river dolphin and an expert present confirmed the observation on site, researchers at the Institute of Hydrobiology remained cautious: the conspicuous snout did speak for a baiji, but the dorsal fin was not clearly recognizable. One could therefore at most speak of a “high probability”.

That the sighting occurred of all places in the Tongling section is not surprising—the region with its side channels is considered one of the last refuges of the baiji. An independent confirmation, however, has still not been forthcoming.

2024: new video sparks debate

On May 14, 2024, CBCGDF published a new video that allegedly shows two Chinese river dolphins in the Yangtze. The team first observed several finless porpoises in a “baiji protected area”, but then discovered two noticeably larger animals with a long snout and a visible dorsal fin—features typical of the baiji.

Despite the statement of an expedition adviser that the video clearly proves the existence of baijis, experts voiced considerable doubts: a water biologist emphasized to The Paper that shaky and blurry cellphone footage does not allow reliable species identification. Another expert suspected the animals were simply finless porpoises. So far, independent verification is lacking.

Beware false hope: unconfirmed baiji sightings

Since the last confirmed sighting in 2002, there have repeatedly been reports of supposed baiji observations. But so far, none of these reports has been scientifically verified. Most are likely due to confusion with the Yangtze finless porpoise. Even if some individual sightings were correct, it cannot be assumed that a viable population still exists.

Sam Turvey, who led the last major search campaign in 2006, warns about the consequences of such unsubstantiated reports. In an interview with Emily Osterloff (2022), he emphasizes that uncritically spread sighting reports raise false hopes and distract from the ecological crisis in the Yangtze. Media reports about alleged baiji sightings have so far never been backed up by evidence, even though the river is regularly monitored scientifically, for example as part of conservation programs for the finless porpoise.

For Turvey, one thing is clear: if such a large mammal cannot be found despite intensive searching, much suggests it has indeed disappeared. Nevertheless, a small scientific uncertainty remains. Turvey also concedes: “Is absence of evidence really evidence of absence?” As long as robust evidence is missing, the Chinese river dolphin therefore continues to be considered “Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)”. But the hope that the baiji survived is now very faint and should not obscure the need for conservation measures for other species.

China’s industrialization & the disappearance of the baiji

The Yangtze, China’s longest river, was for millennia a lifeline for people and animals. With the rapid industrialization since the middle of the 20th century, however, it increasingly turned into a stage for ecological crises. Around 12% of the world’s population live and work in the Yangtze catchment area, which has changed the river system’s balance enormously (Braulik et al. 2005).

For the Chinese river dolphin, which once roamed large sections of the river, this meant a gradual loss of habitat. The baiji depended on extensive, contiguous, and comparatively calm river areas with clear water and stable fish stocks. But due to the multitude of large-scale interventions—such as dams, bank reinforcement, canalization, intensive shipping, and industrialization—its refuges disappeared little by little.

Habitat loss manifested in different ways: through the direct destruction of river sections, through acoustic and chemical pollution, and through the fragmentation of the river into isolated sub-areas that the baiji could no longer reach. Thus, a once diverse and dynamic habitat became an increasingly hostile environment.

Dams as barriers to biodiversity

China began large-scale expansion of hydropower facilities as early as the 1950s. The Xinan Dam (1957–1977) in Zhejiang province was one of the first large dams in the country. Its construction contributed substantially to the disappearance of the baiji from the Qiantang and Fuchun river system—the connection to the main stem of the Yangtze was cut off, and the habitat became uninhabitable.

The construction of the Wanan Dam (1981–1990) cut off the Gan River from Poyang Lake—one of the baiji’s last refuges. The lake, once an important habitat, lost its ecological dynamics due to the diversion of inflow, and the dolphin disappeared there as well.

The greatest disruption, however, was the construction of the Gezhouba Dam near Yichang (1960–1989) on the main course of the Yangtze. It not only caused the baiji to lose access to upstream habitats, but also more than 400 kilometers of valuable habitat downstream—for example through altered sediment regime, shipping development, and water level regulation. The construction of the Gezhouba dam not only affected the baiji, but was also a major factor in the extinction of the Chinese paddlefish between 2005 and 2010.

When construction of the Three Gorges Dam began in 1997, the baiji population was already severely depleted. The ecological transformation brought by the project hit the species particularly hard: altered flow conditions, reduced visibility due to sediment impoundment, and in many places a decline in typical prey fish—all of this made it harder for the dolphin to forage and navigate.

The expansion of hydropower on the Yangtze was one of the main causes of the Chinese river dolphin’s decline. Dams not only cut up flowing waters and prevent fish migrations; they also change flow, water temperature, oxygen content, and food chains.

In addition to these ecological consequences, water-engineering infrastructure also brings immediate technical risks: for example, in 1979 a baiji trapped in a lock chamber died in the Guganhe River (Jiangsu)—an incident that illustrates the risk of injury and death for river animals (Parsons et al. 2025). For an already heavily depleted species like the baiji, dams meant not only habitat loss, but also the collapse of its ecological foundation.

Water pollution in the Yangtze

The Yangtze is now considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Although Welt Online reported in 2007 on a study by the Swiss water research institute Eawag and the Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology, according to which the water quality was better than initially assumed due to the river’s enormous dilution capacity, the ecological damage is unmistakable. Especially in recent decades, unfiltered industrial waste, agricultural residues, and domestic wastewater have led to a worrying increase in toxic loads in the river.

A analysis (Yang et al.) published in Science in 2012 emphasizes increasing pollution as a central cause of the decline of many endemic species. Particularly affected is the Yangtze finless porpoise, whose population shrinks by more than 5% each year. Other species, including the Yangtze sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus), now extinct in the wild, the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), and the critically endangered Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), of which probably only two males remain worldwide, are also likely among the losers of river pollution.

According to Parsons et al. (2025), water pollution was among the most important triggers for the baiji’s disappearance. Particularly severe were:

• Nutrient inputs: Several million tons of nitrogen and phosphorus from synthetic fertilizer enter the Yangtze every year. The result: oxygen depletion and eutrophication—with fatal effects on fish fauna and thus also on the baiji’s food supply.
• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): substances such as DDT, PCBs, or residues from the pharmaceutical industry accumulate in the fatty tissue of marine mammals. They impair the immune system, reproduction, and development—often for decades after their use has been banned.
• Heavy metals: mercury, lead, and cadmium come from metal processing, coal power plants, and agriculture. High concentrations have been detected in finless porpoises in the liver, kidneys, and even in the ovaries—an indication of reduced reproductive capacity.
• Plastic waste: the Yangtze is considered one of the largest sources of plastic entering the oceans. Microplastics can disrupt digestion, release pollutants, and weaken the immune system; larger pieces cause injuries or lead to fatal entanglement.

In the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam, many of these pollutants accumulate and further intensify the ecological crisis. Although sewage treatment plants have been built in some places and contaminated sites remediated, the ongoing input from industry, agriculture, and dilapidated landfills so far outweighs all countermeasures.

Overall, this mixture of legacy pollution, industrial chemicals, and growing plastic waste contributed substantially to the baiji’s disappearance. Even if protective measures had taken hold, the environmental conditions in the river dolphin’s habitat were anything but suitable in recent decades. “The Yangtze had remained unpolluted for millions of years,” but the water quality had “deteriorated so dramatically since the 1980s, and the dolphins had no time to adjust,” Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine (1991) quote the Chinese baiji expert Kaiya Zhou.

Structural interventions in the river system also worsened the situation: between 1950 and 2010, about two-thirds of the lakes in the middle and lower Yangtze Basin disappeared—a decline equivalent to the volume of 20 million Olympic swimming pools (Parsons et al. 2025). Drainage, land reclamation, and dams separated many of these lakes from the river. They lost their ability to store water or buffer floods—and with them, further refuges for freshwater species disappeared.

Shipping traffic: noise & collisions

“Chinese infrastructure is rather modest. There are rail lines, but since these don’t lead anywhere, the Yangtse (…) is the country’s main transport artery. It is and always has been packed with ships—except that in the past they were sailing boats. Today the river is continuously churned up by the engines of rusty old steamers, freighters, huge ferries, passenger steamships and barges.”

Adams & Carwardine, 1991.

According to Parsons et al. (2025), the rapidly increasing ship traffic on the Yangtze is one of the central threat factors for the Chinese river dolphin. Between 2005 and 2019, the freight volume in the river almost tripled. In a survey in 2006 alone, almost 20,000 larger ships were counted on the section between Yichang and Shanghai.

For the baiji, this traffic density meant a dual threat: on the one hand, there were regular collisions with hulls or propellers. Between 1978 and 1985, at least ten documented deaths due to direct collisions are known; many more likely went undetected. Yangtze finless porpoises are also demonstrably affected. Fishing communities report that ship accidents may have ended fatally more often than accidental bycatch.

On the other hand, constant underwater noise poses a serious problem. The baiji depends on hearing: as a river resident with limited vision, it uses echolocation to find prey, detect obstacles, and orient itself. But in many places the noise level on the Yangtze is so high that it severely disrupts echolocation.

“Normally the dolphin can find a small ring on the seabed with the help of its echolocation, so things must be pretty serious if it can’t even tell that it’s just about to get a boat pulled over its skull.”

Adams & Carwardine, 1991.

Modern acoustic studies show that in up to 72% of the river sections examined, noise levels are above the threshold for temporary hearing loss in the finless porpoise—and in 8% even in the range of permanent hearing damage (Parsons et al., 2025). These figures suggest that the baiji also suffered from chronic acoustic stress.

The good news: new ship technologies, quieter engines, and legal regulations such as the Yangtze River Protection Law of 2020 could help reduce noise. Among other things, it allows authorities to limit the number of ships. Whether such measures will take effect in time to protect remaining species such as the finless porpoise remains open—for the baiji they likely come too late.

Effects of climate change on the Yangtze River

In recent decades, climate change has shown noticeable effects on the Yangtze Basin, Parsons et al. (2025) write. Droughts and extreme rainfall events are occurring more frequently and more intensely—with direct consequences for the baiji’s already weakened habitat.

While prolonged dry periods cause shallow-water zones and side waters to dry out, floods can displace animals from familiar areas and drive them into oxygen-poor or pollutant-laden zones. Particularly affected are the middle and lower river sections (the baiji’s habitat), which lie within the influence of the Asian monsoon. In 2020, exceptionally heavy rains caused severe flooding; in 2022 a historic drought followed: during the monsoon season, up to 80% less rainfall than usual fell. Water levels in the Yangtze, Dongting Lake, and Poyang Lake reached record lows since records began—with the water level in Poyang Lake dropping by up to twelve meters.

Long-term measurement series document a temperature increase of 1.4 °C between 1956 and 2018. By the end of the century, temperatures could rise by a further 1.0 to 6.1 °C according to model calculations, accompanied by an increase in annual precipitation of up to 22%. The resulting fluctuations in water levels, changes in flow dynamics, and the decline of fish populations directly affect sensitive species such as the baiji. As Parsons et al. (2025) emphasize, climate change is making the Chinese river dolphin’s habitat increasingly unpredictable and ecologically unstable. Even with stable populations, the species would have had considerable difficulty persisting under these conditions in the long term.

Zhou et al. (2013) show that the baiji’s population development in the past was already closely linked to climatic fluctuations: over the last 100,000 years, the population first steadily declined, reached a low during the last ice age, and partially recovered after sea level rose again. The rapid, human-driven change of recent decades, however, left the river dolphin hardly any time to adapt.

Baiji—used for meat, oil & leather

For centuries, the Chinese river dolphin was used by humans—for meat, oil, and leather. Chinese chroniclers warned of a decline in numbers as early as about 1,000 years ago (Parsons et al., 2025). Hunting during the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) was likely particularly severe, when every available source of food was used. Although hunting was officially banned in the 1970s, reports document isolated illegal killings into the 1980s—in some cases even for representative reasons.

Baijis were also captured for research and educational purposes. The best-known example is the male Qi Qi, rescued injured from Dongting Lake in 1980 and kept at the Institute of Hydrobiology for more than two decades. Other animals, however, survived captivity only a few days or weeks. Attempts at breeding and later release failed—also because of inadequate husbandry conditions and a lack of partners.

In retrospect, the IUCN emphasizes that the removal of individual animals from an already greatly reduced population probably did more harm than good. Even well-intentioned projects can contribute to a species’ disappearance if they take place in isolation and are not embedded in a professionally managed conservation program.

Fisheries: death trap & shrinking food base

For decades, intensive and partly illegal fishing was among the greatest threats to the Chinese river dolphin. Methods such as gillnets, traps, rolling hooks, and the use of dynamite or electricity caused numerous deaths. In the 1970s and 1980s, more than half of all baijis found dead showed injuries from fishing gear. Through explosions alone, at least six animals died between 1978 and 1986 (Parsons et al., 2025).

Illegal electrofishing was considered particularly fatal. Direct current is used to create an electric field that stuns fish—but river dolphins such as the baiji were also stunned and drowned. In an interview with Hatty Liu (2019), wildlife photographer Zou Qian said this method was likely responsible for around 40% of deaths in the 1990s. In addition, there was unintentional bycatch: dolphins became entangled in nets and could no longer surface.

In addition to direct mortality, decades of overfishing led to a drastic decline in fish stocks—fatal for baijis, which fed exclusively on fish. Today, more than 30% of fish species in the Yangtze are considered nearly extinct, including important prey species for the dolphin. Even formerly common species such as carp have lost over 90% of their spawning grounds.

The Yangtze River Protection Law (2020) marked a turning point: a comprehensive ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze and its main tributaries came into force. More than 230,000 fishers were compensated, retrained, or supported in starting new careers. Whether the measure will be effective in the long term depends, according to Parsons et al. (2025), decisively on enforcement, because illegal electrofishing remains a problem. Whether fish populations—and thus the food base for river dolphins—can recover sustainably remains open.

Slow reproduction as a survival risk

Surely the baiji’s low reproductive rate was also a decisive risk factor for population persistence. After a gestation period of ten to eleven months, only a single calf was born. Births were usually two years apart, as young were nursed for up to 20 months. Females reached sexual maturity only at about six years, males at four. Average life expectancy was around 24 years.

Such reproductive parameters are not unusual in toothed whales, but in the heavily burdened Yangtze ecosystem they became a problem: environmental stressors such as noise, water pollution, food scarcity, and direct causes of death led to higher mortality—especially among adult females. Under these conditions, the low rate of offspring was not sufficient to compensate for losses. Thus, the baiji’s biology amplified the downward trend of its already shrinking population.

Low genetic diversity

Genetic analyses by Chinese zoologist Xuming Zhou and his team in 2013 show that the baiji had exceptionally low genetic diversity—significantly lower than in comparable mammal species. Genetic differences between individuals were minimal, suggesting a long-standing lack of genetic variation.

The cause was likely a genetic bottleneck at the end of the last ice age: during this phase, the population shrank to a few surviving animals, causing a large part of the original genetic material to be lost. This genetic impoverishment continued for millennia.

This low genetic diversity had far-reaching consequences: low genetic variation limits the ability to adapt to environmental changes, new pathogens, and stressors. At the same time, the risk of inbreeding and the accumulation of harmful mutations increases. In a sense, the baiji lacked the “evolutionary raw material” to respond to the rapid ecological upheavals in the Yangtze.

In an already heavily degraded habitat, this genetic weakness became the decisive disadvantage: even if some individuals had survived, their ability to recover and adapt would likely have been severely limited. Genetic impoverishment, combined with massive environmental pressures in the Yangtze ecosystem, made the species highly vulnerable.

Conservation measures for the Chinese river dolphin

As early as the 1970s, the Chinese government recognized the dramatic decline of the Chinese river dolphin. Targeted killing was banned, destructive fishing methods such as electrofishing and rolling hooks were prohibited, and the first protected areas along the Yangtze were established. In 1978, a research center for freshwater dolphins was founded under the umbrella of the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan, and in 1983 the baiji was placed under national protection.

Despite these measures, the situation continued to deteriorate. China’s economic development outpaced any form of environmental legislation, and protection requirements were hardly monitored in practice. Between 1986 and 1993, five official protected areas along the Yangtze were designated—including national reserves near Shishou and Xin-Luo and the Tian-e-Zhou oxbow reserve, an isolated oxbow lake near Shishou. Additional stations with boats and observers were intended to document illegal fishing. But in many of these protected areas, according to Parsons et al. (2025), banned methods such as electrofishing were still used. Pollutants flowed downstream unhindered, and dense ship traffic persisted. A sad example: the only female dolphin relocated to a reserve died after just seven months, entangled in a net.

Attempts were also made to relocate individual dolphins to so-called semi-natural reserves, such as the Tian-e-Zhou reserve. The goal was a breeding program with later return to the main river. But too much time passed between planning and implementation.

A fundamental problem was the limited suitability of fixed protected areas. As Osterloff (2022) notes, the baiji was not a site-faithful marine mammal, but migrated in the river following fish stocks. Rigid protected zones could hardly do justice to its behavior. In addition, pollutants from industry and agriculture continued to flow downstream through the reserves, and ships still had to pass the inland ports. Protected areas alone were therefore not enough to secure the species’ survival.

In 1989, the baiji was also listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act. In 2001, China adopted the Conservation Action Plan for Cetaceans of the Yangtze River, which envisioned protected areas, education, and research. But this ambitious program also failed—due to a lack of financial resources, insufficient international support, and a lack of willingness by the state to invest. Estimates suggested that around one million US dollars would have been necessary to implement an effective conservation concept.

While the baiji disappeared in the protected areas, a different picture emerged for the also threatened Yangtze finless porpoise: in semi-natural reserves such as Tian-e-Zhou, some populations were able to stabilize—a glimmer of hope for future conservation projects in the Yangtze system.

Progress thanks to the Yangtze River Protection Law (2021)

In recent years, the legal framework for protecting freshwater biodiversity in China has improved significantly. Since 2020, the Yangtze River Protection Law has provided a comprehensive legal framework to protect the river. The law contains numerous provisions that could also benefit the baiji, including:

• a ten-year complete fishing ban (from 2021 to 2030) in the Yangtze and its major tributaries,
• a ban on illegal fishing methods such as electrofishing and the use of explosives,
• stricter controls of environmental pollution (including pesticides, plastic, and industrial wastewater),
• the promotion of research, protected areas, and restoration measures
• as well as restrictions on shipping and aquaculture if needed.

In addition, citizens and organizations can, for the first time, report environmental damage; even government officials can be held accountable. According to Parsons et al. (2025), it remains to be seen whether the law will actually be effectively implemented. Earlier conservation efforts often failed because enforcement was inadequate.

A study (2026) published in Science examined the effectiveness of this law using data from 57 river sections of the Yangtze main stem. The years before and after the ten-year fishing ban took effect were compared. The result is impressive: fish biomass increased by a median of 209%, species richness rose by 13%, and the size structure of fish communities shifted again in favor of larger species that had previously been heavily fished. Large-bodied fish species benefited especially, with their biomass increasing by 232%.

Several threatened species also showed initial signs of recovery. The population of the Yangtze finless porpoise grew from 445 to 595 individuals between 2017 and 2022—an increase of about one third. The researchers attribute this development mainly to the removal of fishing pressure, improved food availability, and lower bycatch risks.

At the same time, the authors make it clear that these successes are only the beginning. Despite the positive trends, structural problems such as dams, pollutant inputs, and climate change remain. Whether recovery stabilizes in the long term depends on whether the fishing ban is consistently maintained and complemented by further conservation measures.

The study shows that decisive political action can reverse ecological downward trends even in heavily burdened river systems within a few years—provided it happens early and lasts. For the baiji, this development likely comes too late. But it also illustrates that timely and consistent conservation measures may be decisive for whether species get a chance to survive or disappear for good.

Chinese river dolphin: current status and threat situation

As already in the last 5-year review from 2017, the authors of the current review (Parsons et al., 2025) allow for the possibility that individual animals may still exist. But there is no reliable evidence, which is why the Chinese river dolphin is still considered acutely threatened with extinction—due to the following key factors:

• Habitat loss due to the construction of numerous dams between 1950 and 1990,
• drying, pollution, and increasing droughts,
• earlier hunting for meat, oil, leather, and display,
• bycatch caused by illegal fishing methods,
• collisions with ships and noise pollution from inland shipping
• as well as the insufficient implementation of earlier protection measures and bans.

With the Yangtze River Protection Law , there is now for the first time a legal framework that allows targeted interventions. The current assessment by Parsons et al. (2025) confirms retention of the IUCN status: the Chinese river dolphin is still considered acutely threatened with extinction. There are occasional unconfirmed sighting reports—especially from the Tongling region—but so far there is a lack of real evidence such as photos, video recordings, or acoustic signals. As long as such evidence remains absent and further targeted search campaigns are pending, the baiji cannot formally be declared extinct.

The baiji was not an isolated case

Other cetaceans, too, are now on the brink of extinction. Particularly alarming is the situation of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a small porpoise that lives only in the northern Gulf of California. In 2023, only ten to 13 animals were counted; in 2024, only six to eight. Although large sums are being invested in protecting the species and the Mexican government has banned fishing throughout its entire range, time is running out. In June 2024, rare video footage of the extremely rare marine mammals was obtained by the environmental organization Sea Shepherd.

Also endangered is the Yangtze finless porpoise, which shares its habitat with the baiji. The IUCN lists it as “Critically Endangered”, as the population has shrunk sharply in the last 40 years: in the 1990s, around 3,600 animals still lived in the Yangtze; by around 2017, there were only just over 1,000. Nevertheless, the Yangtze finless porpoise has been luckier than the baiji, because it has received much more conservation attention than the Chinese river dolphin ever did. There are even ex-situ populations, i.e. populations and breeding programs outside their natural habitat.

Thanks to conservation measures and the ten-year fishing ban in force since 2020, the population has recently been stabilized at around 1,250 animals. Nevertheless, the risk of extinction remains high. A 2012 Chinese study rated the probability that the Yangtze finless porpoise will go extinct in the next 100 years as high.

Other river and marine mammals are also threatened: the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), according to the IUCN, numbers only about 200 to 250 adult animals—comparable to the baiji population in the 1990s. And in 2022, the dugong (Dugong dugon) was officially declared “functionally extinct” in Chinese waters—probably due to the loss of seagrass meadows and fisheries.

Not only marine mammals are affected: the Chinese paddlefish, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, disappeared between 2005 and 2010. The construction of a huge dam on the Yangtze cut it off from its upstream spawning grounds.

One problem for many of these species: they live underwater—and thus often outside our perception. Their decline remains unnoticed for a long time until it is too late. Yet they fulfill key functions in their ecosystems. Whales, dolphins, and porpoises are among the keystone species: they regulate prey populations, transport nutrients, and contribute to the stability of food webs. Some large whales even promote the growth of phytoplankton through their feces—the microalgal plankton that produces about half of the world’s oxygen.

When such species disappear, entire ecosystems get out of balance—with consequences that are hard to foresee. The story of the baiji teaches us: conservation must not begin only when a species is on the brink of extinction. Timely action is crucial. Otherwise, its story will repeat again and again.

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