In the wild, a Chinese sturgeon can lay hundreds of thousands of eggs, but only a few survive due to various reasons. The artificial propagation and release method is different. Instead of pouring thousands of eggs into the river, researchers select healthy and strong artificially bred sturgeons to be released into the river.

They also consider the age and gender of the fish. This year, the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of Three Gorges Corp. has chosen fish born in the 00s, 10s, 15s to be released into the Yangtze River. Another ten 11-year-old male sturgeons have also been selected. As there are more female than male sturgeons in the wild, these strong young boys are for the ladies.

Hopefully, they will stabilize the imbalanced gender ratio.

For more: 

The Chinese sturgeon: How should we track them after release?

The Chinese sturgeon: A critically endangered species

The Chinese sturgeon: 'King of freshwater fish' can live 100 years

The Chinese sturgeon: A fish with 'family planning policy'

10,000 Chinese sturgeons released into Yangtze River

(Cover designed by CGTN's Jia Jieqiong; video by Lu Zhongcan and Liang Siyan from China Three Gorges Corp.)

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