An environmental group called on Taiwan's government to protect one of the most endangered dolphins in the world, a day after a world conservation body listed the animal as "critically endangered".

The International Union for Conservation of Nature assigned the status to the Eastern Taiwan Strait Humpback Dolphin, known locally as Matsu's Fish or the Chinese white dolphin, on its 2008 "red list" of endangered species, according to the Wild at Heart Legal Defence Association.

Only about 100 of the dolphins, Sousa chinensis Eastern Taiwan Strait, are believed to exist in the wild, said Christina MacFarquhar of the association.

Pollution and fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, were among the main threats.

The association, together with several other local groups, presented a petition to the Council of Agriculture calling on the government to take action to prevent the extinction of the dolphins.