The baiji, traditionally thought by the Chinese to be a river god, used to live along China’s longest river, but development, overfishing and shipping have proved lethal. “Unfortunately the baiji is functionally extinct. We did not see any animals in the river,” August Pfluger, chief executive of the baiji.org Foundation, told Reuters in an interview this week. “If there are maybe one or two or three left in the river, we don’t believe that they have any chance to survive. We were obviously too late. For me, it’s a tragedy in terms of conservation. We lost the race.” … Read the full story.