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    November 09, 2011

As Numbers Dwindle, Rare Dolphin Fights for Survival

   Ivan Broadhead | Hong Kong

   In 2006, China's Yangtze River Dolphin was declared extinct.

   Today there are approximately 2,500 Chinese white dolphins - also known
   as the Indo-pacific humpback dolphin - living in the Pearl River Delta
   area. It is estimated that the numbers of the have fallen by more than
   half in just seven years.

   In Hong Kong waters, the numbers have steadily decreased, from 160
   dolphins in 2003 to about 75 in 2010.

   The dolphins' Pearl River Delta habitat, in the waters off China's
   industrial heartland of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province, is
   under threat from what could be two of the world's largest engineering
   projects:

   '¢ A 50-kilometer-long bridge and highway network that is being
   constructed to develop economic connectivity in China's industrial
   heartland.

   '¢ A proposal to build a third runway at the Hong Kong International
   Airport, which is close to operating at full capacity.

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