Is this just the beginning of the Chinese extinction of a species?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070808/ts_nm/china_dolphin_extinct_dc

What is next on the extinction list? I am guessing it will be one of the shark species since all they use are the fins and discard the rest. What is the mindset of a country that allows an entire species to be driven to extinction just to satisfy the craving for a particular type of soup? I go out of my way to make sure items that I purchase are not of Chinese origin. How about you folks?

Answer 1

This beautiful dolphin was once called the "the goddess of the Yangtze."  This goes to your mindset point -- how can you let this happen to a species your society once considered culturally important?

The link below does a great job showing what we've done and just how far we need to go in stopping shark "finning" throughout the Pacific.  Japan is the biggest harvesting culprit (what a shock), but the biggest fin market stalls are in Hong Kong.

I currently boycott as many products from China as possible -- which worked out well for my cat thank god!  I've joined a group of ad agencies I work with that has informed NBC we will not watch; encourage our clients to advertise; or support sponsors of the Beijing Olympics while the games are on.  Both for environmental and human rights issues.

There might be some hope though.  At environmental summits in Europe and Australia Beijing officials have been much more cooperative on Global Warming, habitat, extinction, and conservation issues.  Even taking the lead on some reef restoration programs for the Pacific Rim.

My fear is that this is part of spin control and promotion of the coming Olympics.  Time will tell...hopefully we have enough....

Answer 2

Chinese are known for eating anything that moves,

if you go there don´t move.

As a species they will not go extinct ,they are already embedded everywhere.

Oh yes we were talking about Dolphins,what about the Tigers ,Rhinos  ,Monkeys and edible dogs also on their menu .

They must seem like the yellow Apocalypse to some Animals

Answer 3

I hate feeling this way about people.  I am not a bigot!  But China and Japan show such an utter lack of respect for the natural world that I'm torn over how I should feel.  Yes, I know there are some good people there, and I know that probably 99.99999% of the problems are caused by the insensitive and greedy governments.  But I can't help but hate people who would cause this and other crimes against the environment through a complete lack of caring.  Yes, I boycott things when I can- try finding something electronic that ISN'T Japanese- but it is very difficult.  I think the USA and Britain and other civilized and caring nations must start sanctioning these countries- until they stop the whaling and the tiger parts and the rhino horns and the shark finning and the immense amount of coal pollution they're putting into the air.  It's a world-wide problem that only the world can help.

Answer 4

The chinese..hmm, well it has always been their tradition to eat sharks fins, if you just want to talk about shark fins. And in China there are so many poeple out there, it takes a lot of time just to make them understand what they are doing because in malaysia( i am from there) where there are less chinese here, i still see poeple craving for this dish. Well, actually I am a chinese and i have stop eating shark's fin soup and i am only 18. From what i see, actually my friends and family are still eating them because, they don't really care. They feel that, they alone can't stop the shark's from extinction if they stop eating it. Get what i mean? And it has been our tradition. A tradition is hard to be stopped. Whenever there is a function like weddings, birthdays, etc, there must be shark fin's to be served! If not, they will feel like something is not there. Just because sharks are going through extinction, we have to stop serving them? it doesn't make much sense to them. I think they can only be stopped, IF everyday, on the television they keep showing how many sharks being tortured and killed just for their fins, or put more gruesome posters of the sharks dying on the hallways and pathways. I mean, usually the posters don't really work because they are 'eye friendly' , so it doesn't really shake or give an impact to people. It is time to show the uglyness of what human do to animals. If you say it's too gruesome, its wrong because we are the cause of it, we should face and see how ugly we have made this world.

Answer 5

Sometimes, due to the health, environmental, and production scares. In fact water pollution might be a reason for the extinction of the rare river dolphin (baijis).

Answer 6

It's a mindset that anything is fair game.  Competition is crazy over there and food is food.  There is also no culture or recognition given for conservation so why should anyone do it when they don't get any credit for it.   Self-centered and short-sighted I know but that's the way it is.