Researchers from the Chinese Sturgeons Research Institute and volunteers have freed 3,000 sturgeons--a rare fish that lived during the dinosaur age--in the Yangtze, the country’s longest river at Yanzhi Park in Yichang on April 12, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Researchers said that the artificially bred fish were released to allow them to propagate and save the species from extinction.
According to Xinhua, some 500 of the same fish were released in 2011, while 2,500 were born in 2013.
Gao Yong, deputy head of the institute told the media that they have adopted advanced methods to track the animals simultaneously.
It was the 57th time that the rare fish was released into the wild.
The Chinese sturgeons, fondly called "aquatic pandas," have been classified as wild animals under protection by the state.
The report said that the number of wild Chinese sturgeons that migrated to Gezhouba in the Hubei Province for reproduction has dropped from 1,000 in 1982 to only about 50, as the experts estimated. Water projects, pollution and heavy traffic have contributed to the slow disappearance of the rare fish.
As a primitive species, the Chinese sturgeon has become an interesting specimen for taxonomists and biologists. For the same reason, China has been studying ways to breed and preserve the endangered species, which is classified as "China's Class One Protected Animals."
The Chinese Sturgeon Institution of China, which was established in 1982, uses artificial breeding techniques to try to preserve the endangered species.
The Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences in Jingzhou is also charged with breeding sturgeon in captivity for restoring their population before the species disappears.