1. Lipotes vexillifer
•Males were about 2.3 m long, females were slightly
higher, at 2.5 m. Adults weighed between 135 and 230 kg.
They were estimated to live about 24 years in the wild.

2. DESCRIPTION
• Due to his poor vision, the baiji is based on echolocation for
navigation and feeding.
• Fossil records indicate that dolphins migrated from the Pacific
Ocean to the Yangtze River 20 million years ago.

3. HABITAT
• Baiji historically lived along 1,700 km
of the middle and lower Yangtze
River, west to the mouth of the river
near Shanghai.
• Currently its habitat has been
reduced hundreds of miles.
• The construction of the Three Gorges
Dam, also led to loss of habitat.

4. CAUSES OF EXTINCTION
• The causes of extinction of
Lipotes vexillifer are very different,
but mainly they are:
overfishing, dam construction,
environmental degradation and
ship collisions with these animals.

5. IMPORTANT
• The Three Gorges Dam irretrievably
altered the habitat of this dolphin.
Scientists hope to save by moving them to
a nearby lake, and then reintroduced back
into the river when their chances of
survival were greater. Other species

6. IMPORTANT
• The Three Gorges Dam irretrievably
altered the habitat of this dolphin.
Scientists hope to save by moving them to
a nearby lake, and then reintroduced back
into the river when their chances of
survival were greater. Other species