In 2007, Abao, a finless porpoise, lived in the Baiji Dolphin House of the Institute of Aquatic Biology (data map). Photographed by Yangtze Daily reporter Gao Baoyan
At the Baiji Dolphin House of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a baby finless porpoise was recently born, numbered F9C22. This is a new hope. The other finless porpoise, No. 4448, Po, has become a legend -
It came from the natural environment to the artificial breeding environment, and then returned to nature;
It has four generations under the same roof and has 5 offspring. With 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, he is a veritable "great-grandfather";
It is 25+ years old, refreshing our understanding of the age of finless porpoises;
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Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Cetacean protected organisms Wang Ding, leader of the scientific subject group and researcher, told Abao’s story on many occasions. He said: “In the field of animal protection, wild animals can return to their natural state and successfully reproduce and form groups, which is regarded as the most important thing. Good protection. "
"Smiling Angel in Wuhan"
The third issue of the column
tells you the legendary story of finless porpoise A Bao.
Strong and strong, A Bao was selected to participate in artificial breeding.
Hubei Shishou Tianezhou Baiji dolphin national level. The nature reserve (hereinafter referred to as "Tian'ezhou Reserve") is the world's first ex-situ reserve for cetaceans. In 1990, five Yangtze finless porpoises moved here.
In 1996, the Baiji Dolphin House of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the "Institute of Hydrobiology") began to raise Yangtze finless porpoises. At that time, the Baiji Dolphin Museum had three finless porpoises, one male and two females, but no baby finless porpoises were born.
In 2004, scientific researchers conducted a physical examination on the finless porpoises in the Tian'ezhou Reserve. Taking this opportunity, they selected Abao, a strong and young male finless porpoise, hoping that he could participate in the Baiji Dolphin Museum of the Institute of Aquatic Biology. Artificially reared breeding groups to prepare for the birth of baby finless porpoises.
Abao is not very afraid of people and has strong adaptability. Before departure, he was temporarily raised in a cage in Tian'ezhou Reserve for two weeks and quickly adapted to artificial feeding of bait fish.
Moved to Wuhan, and the familiar Abao found a new friend
In mid-October 2004, Abao "moved". At that time, the transportation conditions were relatively backward and crude. The scientific researchers transferred Abao to a stretcher cloth and placed him in a water tank covered with sponge . The 6-hour long-distance transportation from Tian'ezhou Reserve to Wuhan Baiji Dolphin House was very smooth.
A Bao was first temporarily placed in an auxiliary breeding tank in the Baiji Dolphin House. He could communicate with the other three finless porpoises in the main breeding tank through the fence. The familiar A Bao often "struck up conversations" with his partners and communicated frequently.
After half a year of breeding training, scientific researchers raised A Bao together with three other finless porpoises, hoping that A Bao could find a mate and become a father soon. Abao soon got to play with the other three finless porpoises.
Dolphin babies are born one after another, but unfortunately the father is not A Bao.
Good news soon came: Jingjing, the female dolphin, is pregnant! This is the first time a Yangtze finless porpoise has successfully conceived in an artificial environment. Everyone speculated that maybe A Bao became a father.
On July 5, 2005, baby finless porpoise Taotao was born. This was the first Yangtze finless porpoise in the world that successfully reproduced through natural mating in an artificial breeding environment. The paternity test results showed that Taotao’s father is another male dolphin, Ah Fu.
By 2010, three finless porpoise calves were born at the Baiji Dolphin House, but these calves were not related by blood to Po.
On May 10, 2021, Yangtze finless porpoises played in the water by the river in Yichang City, Hubei Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiao Yijiu
Research on soft release technology allowed Po to return to his old ways
At this time, scientific researchers conducted a study on soft release technology. The main purpose was to test whether finless porpoises living in artificial breeding environments could Adapt to the living environment of nature again. After comprehensive consideration, it was decided to return Abao to his old ways in Tian'ezhou .
In the early stage of soft release, Abao first needed to be acclimated in a floating cage, because for higher animals raised in captivity, returning to the natural environment is a severe survival test.Scientific researchers are worried that Abao has lived in an artificial environment for nearly 7 years. Can it still catch fish on its own? Can you socialize with other wild finless porpoises?
Starting from March 2011, scientific researchers carefully designed the rewilding process of A Bao: First, they fed A Bao with live fish in the Baiji Dolphin House. In about a month, A Bao was able to catch live fish by himself. In April, A Bao was transported to the cage in Tian'ezhou Reserve for adaptive acclimation. In just 2 weeks, A Bao adapted; then, A Bao was put into a large pen, which is a closed natural environment where small fish He can get into the fence and come in and out freely, and Po hunts smoothly.
scientific researchers gave Bao a final physical examination, and after confirming that his weight and other indicators were completely normal, they installed a permanent microchip on Bao. The chip number ends in 4448, which is his ID card .
On June 1, 2011, the fence was opened and Po returned to the natural waters of Tian'ezhou Reserve. Abao quickly swam out of the fence and walked not far. Then he turned around and swam into the fence and circled around, looking around reluctantly. Finally, after being out of the water several times, Po disappeared into the water.
htmlThe mantissa 4448 is seen again after 14 years, and Po is "four generations under one roof"Can Po adapt to the living environment in the wild? Is Po okay? Scientific researchers are always concerned about Abao.
In November 2015, scientific researchers conducted a comprehensive population census of the finless porpoises in the old path of Tian'ezhou Nature Reserve.
On November 20, the eighth finless porpoise emerged from the water. It was relatively large, with its tail exposed outside the stretcher cloth. A familiar scar on its tail immediately attracted the attention of scientific researchers: This is Po's sign!
4448! It was confirmed by the scanner that the chip number ended in 4448. "A'Bao, this is our A'Bao!" the researcher shouted excitedly.
Everyone was very excited, as if they had found a long-lost child. After more than 4 years, Bao's weight has hardly changed. At 46.8 kilograms, he is still fat and silly. During the entire physical examination, Abao did not struggle and was very cooperative, as if he recognized an old friend and remembered the nearly seven years of artificial breeding in the Baiji Dolphin House.
After the census, scientific researchers used molecular biology technology to construct a genetic relationship pedigree for the finless porpoise group in the Tian'ezhou Reserve. The results were even more surprising - Po is already the fourth generation living under the same roof in Tian'ezhou!
Before Abao left his hometown in Tian'ezhou in 2004, he bred at least two offspring. After returning to his hometown in 2011, he bred at least three offspring. What is particularly gratifying is that the offspring bred before 2004 gave Abao at least 10 grandchildren (females) and 2 great-grandchildren.
Abao can be said to be the "great-grandfather" of four generations living under the same roof.
We saw A Bao again during last year's census. He was already 25 years old.
"A magical speciality, a legendary life." Dr. Hao Yujiang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, summed up A Bao's experience with this sentence.
Hao Yujiang said that Po’s tail was injured, so there was a scar, which became a very important appearance feature of Po. At the time of the 2015 census, Po was already four generations old and had a large family. At that time, he was already 17 or 18 years old and was considered a middle-aged individual.
In 2021, scientific researchers conducted another physical examination on the finless porpoises in Tian'ezhou, and Abao was caught again. "It is still fat and strong, but some teeth are missing, and it is very old." Hao Yujiang said, According to calculations, A Bao's age should be over 25 years old. "Generally, we think that the age of finless porpoises is about 20 years old. A Bao has once again refreshed our understanding of the age of finless porpoises, and has learned more about this magical species." Get to know.”
Abao is the only finless porpoise that has experienced artificial breeding and ex-situ conservation of the Yangtze finless porpoise. It may still be living healthily in the Tian’ezhou Reserve. In the future, researchers plan to reintroduce Abao's companions, the finless porpoises in the ex-situ reserve, to the Yangtze River.
Ten protected areas have been built in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Abao’s story tells us: Yangtze finless porpoises that have been raised in artificial environments for a long time can still adapt to the natural environment again through scientific reverse adaptation and domestication, and can reproduce successfully, "soft release" The technology has been basically established, which provides strong technical support for my country to further carry out the Yangtze finless porpoise conservation plan.China's experience in protecting the Yangtze finless porpoise has also won high recognition and active promotion by international organizations.
Abao’s legendary life has become a model example of scientific protection of finless porpoises. Wang Ding, researcher and leader of the Cetacean Conservation Biology Group at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Abao’s story on many occasions. He said: “In the field of animal protection, wild animals can return to their natural state and reproduce successfully. , forming a population is regarded as the best protection." Although there is still a long way to go, China's more than 40 years of research and protection of the Yangtze River porpoise has ushered in "dawn hope."
In September 2021, Wang Ding told the story of Abao in the natural science class. Photo by Changjiang Daily reporter He Xiaogang
As early as 1986, at the first international freshwater dolphin conservation biology conference held in Wuhan, Chinese scientists proposed three major conservation measures: in-situ protection, ex-situ protection, and artificial breeding and breeding research. .
The "Yangtze Finless Porpoise Rescue Action Plan" came out in 2016. In 2021, the " National Key Protected Wildlife List " was revised for the first time in 30 years, and the Yangtze finless porpoise was officially upgraded to a national first-level protected animal . From 2021, the Yangtze River will officially Since the start of the "ten-year fishing ban", the Wuhan Municipal Government has also introduced "ten major measures" to promote the return of the Yangtze finless porpoise to the urban section of Wuhan, including the Wuhan Municipal Garden and Forestry Bureau's continued implementation of the protection and restoration of wetlands and other wildlife habitats.
Since 2017, the accelerating decline in the Yangtze finless porpoise population has been contained. The number of Yangtze finless porpoises is currently stable at around 1,000. 10 dolphin nature reserves and ex-situ reserves have been built in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, protecting the areas near the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. One-third of the river section is also the most important water area for the future recovery of the Yangtze finless porpoise population.
source: Wuhan releases
