As reported last year, The Baiji was thought to be extinct after a six-week search for the dolphin turned up no sightings in the Yangtze River. Now recent eyewitness footage of the animal has given scientists and conservationists a sliver of hope. Unfortunately, the Baiji is still too few and too scattered to perpetuate the species unless the remaining individuals were somehow found and concentrated into a protected area of the river for breeding purposes. That actually seems to be the plan now.

A white-flag dolphin has been seen in Yangtze River in east China, just days after a leading Chinese scientist said the animal was likely extinct.

A man with a decoration company in east China’s Anhui Province spotted a “big white animal” in the river at Xuba ferry in Tongling, Anhui, at 3:10 to 3:20 p.m. Aug. 19, and filmed it with a digital camera, said Dr. Wang Kexiong, of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Judged from its appearance and living environment, the animal in the footage was confirmed by the institute to be a white-flag dolphin, known in Chinese as “baiji”, Wang said. “We are very glad to see baiji still exist in the world,” Wang said.

“Many people have believed that baiji is extinct and this finding brings us a sliver of hope,” said Wang Ding, a leading expert on the species from the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. But he noted that it is still quite difficult to protect the endangered animal.

Because few of this species still live in the Yangtze River, their chance of mating is slim, said Wang Ding, who added that a measure is to gather these animals in one section of the river for breeding. “This is no easy task. But if we don’t do that, white-flag dolphins are doomed to go extinct,” he said.

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