There’s just ten left in the wild
The world’s smallest marine mammal is getting worryingly close to extinction with experts launching the first extinction alert in 70 years.
They fear that the mammal, the Vaquita, will disappear from our waters in the near future despite efforts from local governments and A-listers to bring the animal back from extinction.
The mammal is a type of small porpoise which measures at around 4-5ft.
Located in the Gulf of California, the population has sadly dropped from 570 in 1997 to just 10 today, or so experts estimate.
It’s believed that the rapid decline in their population has been brought on by an illegal net used to hunt for totoaba fish which are sold on the black market for traditional Chinese medicines.
While Mexico has tried to crack down on the trade, the number of vaquitas has continued to drop in high numbers.
As the animal is now almost extinct, the IWC has made an extinction alert, saying: “Despite nearly thirty years of repeated warnings, the vaquita hovers on the edge of extinction due to gillnet entanglement.”
Dr Lindsay Porter told The Guardian: “We wanted, with the extinction alert, to send the message to a wider audience and for everyone to understand how serious this is.”
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