Top 100 books of 2008 were chosen by China Reading Weekly on the last day of 2008. The book the Loss of the Yangtze River Dolphin which was written by Prof. Ding WANG and Prof. Kexiong WANG from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was among the top 100 books.  

The Loss of the Yangtze River Dolphin was written in diary form. It gives a detailed record of the Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition 2006, which was jointly organized and carried out by the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Swiss-based baiji.org Foundation. The serious destruction of Yangtze River ecological environment and the possible consequences that might happen were truthfully narrated in this book. 

The Loss of the Yangtze River Dolphin was published by Phoenix Publishing and Media Group Ltd. and Jiangsu Science and Technology Publishing House in July 2008. The year 2008 does not only mark the 90th anniversary of the naming of Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), but also marks the 30th anniversary of the Research Group of Yangtze River dolphin in the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.