Animal Life - Chinese Paddlefish
The Chinese Paddlefish has been around for 200 million years, but has now been declared extinct. They had survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
"It's a definitive loss of a very unique and extraordinary animal, with no hope of recovery."
-Fish biologist Zeb Hogan, UNR
According to a recent study, published in Science of the Total Environment, overfishing and dam construction had critically endangered the fish. The Gezhouba Dam, built in 1981, split the population which disrupted migration and prevented breeding upstream. The last confirmed sighting in the Yangtze River was in 2003.
In response, China has announced a 10 year commercial fishing ban in the Yangtze River, as they're also seeing a decline in Chinese sturgeon populations and overall biodiversity.
More than 280,000 fishermen will be impacted by this ban, and the government has allocated funds to help them find alternative work and to provide welfare and retraining.
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