In pictures: The noughties - a decade of lost species | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The Baiji dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
Also called Changjiang, Chinese lake, white flag, whitefin or Yangtze River dolphin - is probably the most threatened cetacean species in the world. The last documented sighting of the species was in 2002 and surveys in 2006 failed to find any individuals in its native Yangtze River in China. The species has been listed as critically endangered since 1996, but in 2007 it was reassessed as and flagged as possibly extinct. Entanglement in fishing gear, electric fishing practices, boat propeller strikes, dam construction, river siltation (from deforestation and agricultural expansion), and pollution have all contributed to the dramatic declines of this species
Photograph: Nick Gordon/Ardea
