"Happy first birthday!" On June 27, China's first second-generation female finless porpoise, "Little Jiujiu", was naturally bred and survived in an artificial environment. "China Science News" reporters were invited to the Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation in Wuhan, Hubei to celebrate the birthday of "Little Jiujiu".
Aquatic Biology Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences According to Wang Kexiong, a researcher at the institute, "Little Jiujiu" weighed 6.5 kilograms and was 70 centimeters long when he was born. After a year of growth, he now weighs 35 kilograms and is 1.1 meters long. Not only is she an expert at catching live fish, but she also cooperates with the trainer to eat chilled bait fish with various nutrients added. Her daily food intake can stably reach two kilograms.
In addition, "Little Jiujiu" will also follow her mother "Fujiu" to learn various swimming styles in the water, so that she can truly "eat and play at the same time." With the caring care of her mother and trainers, "Little Jiujiu" can grow up healthily and happily.
Wang Kexiong told reporters that "Little Jiujiu", who has just turned one year old, has a big and happy family. His parents are "Taotao", the first finless porpoise in the world to successfully reproduce naturally in an artificial breeding environment. and the finless porpoise "Fujiu" who moved from Poyang Lake to the Baiji Dolphin House in 2011. The finless porpoise father "Taotao" is 18 years old this year, and the finless porpoise mother "Fujiu" is in her prime.
She also has two eldest brothers, named "e Bo" and "Han Bao". These two were also finless porpoises born in artificial breeding environments of Baiji dolphins. Because of their plump bodies, they were once Scientists nicknamed them the "torpedo brothers", and now the two brothers have grown up.
"Little Jiujiu" is born On that day, more than 200 million netizens accompanied the "baby finless porpoise" online, making him the undisputed number one "Internet celebrity" of the dolphin species. After being born, the finless porpoise "Fujiu" has been actively following and caring as her mother, guiding "Little Jiujiu" to dive deeply and accompanying her. At about 4:30 on the second day after birth, "Little Jiujiu" successfully ate the first oral motherBreasts also started her wonderful life.
On October 24 last year, which coincided with the International Freshwater Dolphin Day and the Yangtze Finless Porpoise Protection Day, seven caring companies in Wuhan donated 20,000 kilograms of fresh live fish to them, and the four-month-old "little "Jiujiu" also gradually started a mixed feeding plan. Mixed feeding was a big challenge for her at such a young age. It was not until February 25 this year that "Xiao Jiujiu" caught and ate a small live fish for the first time. "Catching and eating fish for the first time may seem simple, but it is actually an important part of her growth. It also means that 'Little Jiujiu' is slowly mastering survival skills," Wang Kexiong said.
On February 28 this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the latest inspection results: the Yangtze River finless porpoise population numbered 1,249. Wang Ding, chairman of the Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation, said: "Monitoring over the past 40 years has shown that the number of Yangtze finless porpoises has been declining. This result is a historic turning point." The Yangtze finless porpoise population has stopped declining for the first time. The recovery trend is due to the implementation of policies such as the Yangtze River Protection and the ten-year fishing ban, as well as the whole society's attention to the Yangtze River's ecological environment, biodiversity, and the protection of rare and endangered species.
On April 25, four Yangtze finless porpoises (3 males and 1 female) were released into the Yangtze River from the Xinluo Section of Honghu and Shishou Tianezhou of the Yangtze River in Hubei. This is the first domestic attempt to release ex-situ populations into the Yangtze River. middle. "We have been taking this step for more than 30 years," Wang Ding said: "This is a new milestone in the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise, and will also complete the last key technical closed loop of the Yangtze River finless porpoise protection technology system."
Yangtze River The fate of the finless porpoise has become a hot topic during the National People's Congress. This year's National Two Sessions, five members of the CPPCC National Committee living in Hubei jointly submitted a proposal "Recommendations on Increasing the Protection of the Yangtze Finless Porpoise". Wang Qiong, a representative of the National People's Congress, proposed "vigorously building a 'digital finless porpoise' platform in Wuhan", which aroused widespread concern from all walks of life. .
Wang Ding told China Science News that in the future, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Baiji Conservation Foundation will continue to provide scientific research innovation and social support for finless porpoise protection, and promote the harmonious symbiosis between humans and the Yangtze River. , let the "smiling angel" live forever.