In 1993, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. district court by seven environmental groups to stop the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from assisting the Three Gorges Project in design and construction. The lawsuit stated that the U.S. government and military agencies would be contributing to a project that violates the Endangered Species Act.

A case study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund claims that in addition to increased risks of earthquakes and landslides, the project will have devastating effects on the river's wildlife. The study stated that the Yangtze River Dolphin, the Chinese Sturgeon, the Chinese Tiger, the Chinese Alligator, the Siberian Crane and the Giant Panda, all of which are endangered species, will be affected.

Fewer than 100 river dolphins are speculated to still exist, found only in the Yangtze River and all efforts to stop the continueing drop in numbers have failed. The river dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer, better known as the Baiji, is one of only five species of freshwater dolphins in the world and the only one of its genus. The Baiji has a blueish, grey body with a white underside, weighs between 220 and 350 pounds and can grow to a length of eight feet.

The Baiji is considered a "living fossil," speculated by scientists to have first appeared 25 million years ago. Scientists say the dolphin is invaluable as an important subject for the study of evolution and the development of mammals.

According to the EDF, the building of the Three Gorges Dam threatens the Baiji home areas. Water released from the dam will affect the feeding and breeding areas of the Baiji. Pollution and increased human population in these areas may also further threaten the extremely rare dolphin. China has only one dolphin in captivity, a male named "Qiqi."

In December the largest Beiji ever, measuring eight feet long, was found in the lower reaches of the heavily polluted Yangtze. The dolphin was apparently electrocuted by fishermens' nets, which is increasingly one of the Beijis' biggest threats to its survival. Scientists guess that at the present course of the river dolphins'
decline in population, the species will be
extinct within 25 years.