River dolphins are among the most endangered cetaceans on Earth. Bycatch in fishing nets, boat strikes, and river pollution cause individual welfare harm while threatening populations already at critically low levels.
River dolphins entangled in fishing nets experience prolonged drowning — a particularly distressing form of mortality given their respiratory needs as air-breathing mammals. Boat propeller injuries cause severe lacerations that are frequently fatal or leave survivors with lasting impairment. River dolphins captured in acoustic isolation by dam construction experience population fragmentation that reduces genetic diversity and individual social opportunity. The extinction of the baiji demonstrates that freshwater dolphin welfare failures have irreversible consequences. Direct welfare interventions include ghost gear retrieval programs and propeller guards on river traffic in critical habitat.