The Extinction of Baiji Essay Example for Free

The Extinction of Baiji Essay The Baiji, also known as the Chinese River Dolphin, are part of the family Plantanistiade, the river dolphin family. They had exsited in the Yangtze River in China for thousand of years. Nevertheless, the Baiji was recently declared extinct. The baiji’s demise can be attributed to over fishing, its lethal environment and the Great Leap Forward in China. Excessive and illegal fishing was a great threat to the baiji’s way of life. Electric fishing and the fishing method called â€Å"rolling hooks† were been banned in China. However, fishermen on the Yangtze River still use them out of convenience, and enforcement of the ban was difficult. The expert Zhou states, â€Å"This (electic) fishing method, in which an under waterdevice is used to stun aquatic animals, kills any organism induding what was once the dolphin’s prey.† 40 percent of Dolphins deaths were due to this kind of fishing annually (Gerg Ruland). In addition, rolling hooks, â€Å"long, braided lines with numerous sharp hooks are meant to catch fish, caused a number of baiji death.† As long as the baiji was caught by one of the hooks, it would struggle with more rolling hooks. Finally, the blood flew out of the baiji’s body, and it would die. (Requiem for a Freashwater Dolphin) . The environment in the Yangtze River, where the baiji had settled its habitat in, was fatal to the baiji. Traffic on the Yangtza River, which is the busiest in the world, damaged the audition of the baiji. Lovgren in his article states that, â€Å"The large-ship traffic on the Yangtze, one of the world’s busiest waterways, confounds the sonic wave that the nearly blind dolphin used to depend on to find food.† Moreover, the boats on the Yangtze attracted a number of the baiji to collide with propellers, since the propellers produced much of the sound wave and confused the baiji’s audition (Ruland). Another assignable cause that destroyed the baiji’s habitat was dams along the Yangtze River. Thes dams further destroyed the ecology of the river. And when the biggest dam, the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam in 1994, began to be constructed, this â€Å"wreaked havoc on the baiji’s remaining habitat. In 1997, only 13 baiji remained† (The Tragedy of the Yangtze River Dolphin). People take the big advantage of the valuable nature resources, living near by the Yangtze. However, because of the intemperate use, the baiji could not survive in the perishing environment and finally die. However, neither Chinese people nor the Chinese government kept the protection of the species in mind during the time period of the Great Leap Forward, which was the time to change China into a modern, industrialized communist society. The baiji’s population declined dramatically at the time. The baiji was denounced for their historical status, â€Å"Goddess of the Yangtze River† (Smith, et al). As a result people were encouraged to kill the baiji, since the story of this species was regarded as a part of superstition and feudalism. The baiji also killed for their white skin and flesh(Smith, et al) . It was encouraged for the contemporary to kill the baiji, since they treat baiji as their profit and the symbol of the bad traditional influence. In conclusion, the extinction of the baiji resulted from human activities. People who live near by the Yangtze improved their live depended on the destroying the baiji’s habitat and capturing the baiji. The tragedy of the baiji’s extinction came at a price while the living standard of people was promoted.