'Extinct dolphin spotted in the Yangtze'

A species of dolphin thought to be extinct has been sighted in the Yangtze river, according to Chinese scientists.The white-flag dolphin, also known as the baiji in China, was filmed by a man in Anhui Province in the east of the country.Zeng Yujiang, who spotted the rare creature, said: "I never saw such a big thing in the water before, so I filmed it. It was about 1,000 metres away and jumped out of water several times."The last confirmed sighting of the long-beaked and nearly blind species was in 2004.It was classified as critically endangered or possibly extinct after an international team failed to spot even one of the mammals on an expedition last year.The sighting comes just days after one of China's leading scientists said it was likely to be extinct.Dr Wang Kexiong, of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Judging from its appearance and living environment, the animal in the footage was confirmed by the institute to be a white-flag dolphin".Wang Ding, another expert at the institute, said: "Many people have believed that baiji is extinct and this finding brings us a sliver of hope."However, he warned it would be difficult to protect the endangered species because of their low numbers and slim chances of reproducing.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | August 30, 2007

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