Dec.17 - Chinese scientists said they will continue to search for the rare white-flag dolphin although it is possibly extinct as a 38-day search failed to find any in the Yangtze River.

 

Wang ding, head of a team of scientists that concluded their fruitless white-flag dolphin search on Wednesday, said the efforts to search for and protect the dolphin should continue as there might be some such dolphins still living.

 

"We will try every effort to save them as long as it is not announced to be extinct," said Wang, who is also vice director of the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

Wang said human beings had achieved successes in the protection of endangered species such as David's deer, which has grown into a population of 3,000 worldwide from the verge of extinction.

 

Wang said the monitoring of hot spots and small-scale searches will continue.

 

"The the 3,400-km expedition only covered the main section of the Yangtze River and the scientists only searched for the dolphins eight hours a day, which means some dolphins might have been missed," said Wei Zhuo, an engineer from the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

 

Wang Ding and his colleagues insisted it was still too early to say such dolphin is extinct, while some foreign experts said "we have to accept the fact that the white-flay dolphins, also known as baiji, is extinct."