New Zealand Dolphin Faces Extinction

An estimated 55 adult Maui dolphins are left in the world. The Maui is unique to the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It is the world’s rarest and smallest dolphin. And, by 2013, it could be extinct, unless urgent action is taken. The US-based Society for Marine Mammalogy (SSM) is so worried that, according to the Bangkok Post, it wrote to John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, urging him to save the dolphin. The SSM asked Key to ban trawling and gillnetting in the dolphin’s habitat, to ensure its survival.  ‘In a situation such as this one, involving a critically endangered sub-species, delay…could have dire, irrevocable results’, the SSM told the Prime Minister. The New Zealand government began reviewing protection for the Maui’s dolphin last year. It has yet to announce any new protection measures.