River dolphins are among the most endangered cetaceans on Earth, facing habitat destruction, fishing bycatch, and pollution that cause significant individual welfare harm.
River dolphin welfare crises are playing out in slow motion across multiple continents. Dolphins entangled in gillnets may struggle for extended periods before drowning or being released with injuries. Mercury pollution in Amazon river dolphins accumulates through the food chain, causing neurological damage and immune suppression in affected individuals. Habitat modification — dams, river channelization, boat traffic — fragments populations and disrupts the social and foraging behavior of highly intelligent cetaceans. The extinction of the baiji stands as the most recent cetacean extinction — a welfare and conservation failure that occurred despite awareness of the threat. For surviving species, each death carries enormous significance given small population sizes.