Six years after the Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), or baiji, was declared "functionally extinct" by scientists, another marine mammal appears on the edge of extinction in China's hugely degraded Yangtze River. In less than two months, 32 Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis), a subspecies of the finless porpoise, have been dead found in Dongting and Poyang Lakes in the Yangtze, reports the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The porpoises are suffering from many of the same impacts that pushed the baiji to extinction: illegal electrofishing, strikes by boat propellors, poisons, and possibly pollution and food shortages from lower water levels linked by officials to climate change. Autopsies show that at least two of the animals were killed by electrofishing and boat propellers.

At some point in our lives most of us have been offered this advice: If you keep expectations low, you won't be disappointed.

Photos by Michael E. EsteySmall, isolated wetlands like these produce 70 percent of the ducks in the critical prairie pothole region of North Dakota and South Dakota.

Following that maxim, waterfowlers and others who care about wildlife can feel free to smile about this news: Congress likely is to trim $6 billion off Farm Bill Conservation Titles in the next decade.

Hawaiian monk seals in a marine protected area are heading towards extinction, while those in a nearby unprotected area are thriving, according to new research.

Viewers of this summer’s Hollywood blockbuster “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” may be surprised to learn that before our earliest ancestors arrived on the scene roughly seven million years ago, apes really did rule the planet. As many as 40 kinds roamed Eurasia and Africa between 10 and 25 million years ago. Only five types remain. Two live in Asia, the gibbon and orangutan; another three, the chimpanzee, bonobo and gorilla, dwell in Africa. All five are endangered, several critically so. All may face extinction.

A decade ago, Congress stepped forward with a relatively cheap but vitally important effort to protect these apes through innovative conservation programs in Africa and Asia that combined taxpayer dollars with private money. But attempts to reauthorize the Great Apes Conservation Fund have gotten stuck in Congress and may become a victim of the larger debate over the national debt.

1. Iberian lynx

Dear Family and Friends,

Dear Family and Friends,

Just a century ago, more than 1 million chimpanzees roamed the African forests. Today, scientists figure there are perhaps as few as 300,000 chimpanzees left.

Without concerted action, the possibility of zero chimpanzees in the wild – indeed, a world in which remaining forests and savannas are virtually empty – is all too real. As Jane Goodall says, “We must not let it happen.”

Time may be running out for orangutans living in the rainforests of Sumatra, it has been warned.

According to the Jakarta Post, the "auburn haired" creatures may be facing extinction as they can now only be found in the north of Sumatra and Aceh, areas which are both being hit by deforestation.

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

The Center for Biological Diversity is spreading the word about the impact of population growth on the environment by distributing condoms with cheeky slogans.