Sighting of white dolphin offers slight hope for species survival

A recent possible sighting of a white dolphin native to the Yangtze River - that scientists declared extinct last year - may offer a shred of hope for the animal's survival.

But a top researcher yesterday said he still considered the baiji, or white-flag dolphin, to be "functionally extinct".

Wang Ding, chief scientist at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan of Hubei Province, said that it is still quite difficult to protect the animal as few of the species may be living and their chances of mating are slim.