River dolphins in South America and Asia face existential welfare threats from bycatch, habitat degradation, and hunting, with conservation programs offering their last best chance for survival.
River dolphin welfare combines acute welfare harm — bycatch drowning, hunting for bait — with the systemic welfare loss of population collapse. The functional extinction of the baiji represents both a conservation failure and the welfare tragedy of an entire species lost. River dolphins demonstrate high intelligence, complex vocalizations, and social bonds that make their welfare experiences morally significant. Entanglement in fishing nets causes drowning — a welfare harm that, at population scale, also threatens species viability. Conservation programs that provide fishing communities with alternatives to net-fishing and create protected river zones offer the most promising pathway for remaining river dolphin populations. The urgency is acute — without intervention, more species face the baiji's fate.