River dolphin species are among the most endangered cetaceans, with some held in facilities raising significant welfare and conservation questions.
River dolphin welfare in any captive setting presents extraordinary challenges — these animals are adapted to large, complex, acoustically rich river systems with seasonal flooding, turbid water, and natural prey communities. Recreating conditions that meet their physical, sensory, and social needs in captivity is effectively impossible. Conservation resources are far more effectively directed toward habitat protection, fisheries management, and bycatch reduction than toward captive holding. The Baiji extinction demonstrates what happens when conservation action arrives too late. Welfare considerations for river dolphins must centre on wild population protection rather than ex-situ programmes that cannot adequately meet captive welfare needs.