The number of surviving Maui’s dolphins—the world’s smallest type—has fallen below 50 for the first time, leading scientists to worry the species could become extinct within 50 years. The population—which numbered at nearly 60 just a few years ago—is now believed to be between 43 and 47, with only 10 of the animals being mature females. Conservationists are calling for a blanket ban on fishing in the animals’ habitat, with German scientist Barbara Maas adding that extinction is otherwise '“a matter of when, not if.”
