River dolphins are among the most endangered cetaceans, facing welfare threats from habitat degradation, fishing gear entanglement and direct killing in the rivers they inhabit.
River dolphin welfare encompasses some of the most urgent and severe welfare crises in the animal kingdom, as multiple species face extinction within years or decades. Individual dolphins experience welfare compromise from entanglement injuries, mercury poisoning that affects neurological and reproductive function, and the chronic stress of navigating degraded habitats with reduced prey availability. The extinction of the baiji demonstrates that failure to address river dolphin welfare and conservation threats creates irreversible harm. Emergency conservation and welfare interventions for surviving species including the Vaquita require unprecedented levels of political commitment and resources to prevent further extinctions.