In a historic breakthrough, scientists have witnessed the first natural reproduction of the critically endangered Yangtze sturgeon in the wild in over two decades.
On April 16, tiny, translucent larvae—no bigger than grains of rice—hatched in the shallow waters of the Chishui River in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. To untrained eyes, they might have seemed like ordinary fish, but to the anxious team of researchers, these hatchlings represented a monumental step toward saving a species on the brink of extinction.
This achievement is the culmination of years of dedicated work by researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute under the China Three Gorges Corporation, and other institutions organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Their shared mission: to revive the Yangtze sturgeon and restore balance to the river’s ecosystem.
Once a vital part of the Yangtze River’s ecosystem, the Yangtze sturgeon faced severe decline due to factors like water pollution and overfishing. By the early 2000s, natural reproduction had ceased, and in 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the species extinct in the wild.
Undeterred, scientists embarked on ambitious projects to restore the sturgeon’s natural habitat. They experimented with reconstructing water flow patterns and riverbed conditions, initially in controlled environments and later in segments of the river.
“Due to the lack of historical data, we initially didn’t know what environmental conditions were needed for the reproduction of the Yangtze sturgeon,” said Liu Huanzhang, an IHB researcher specializing in fish conservation biology. “However, after repeated experiments, this problem has been basically solved.”
In early 2025, the team focused their efforts on a stretch of the Chishui River, a tributary of the upper Yangtze that remains relatively untouched by industrial development. Using drones, sonar, and hydrological modeling, they recreated the exact conditions required for sturgeon spawning.
They released 20 adult sturgeons into the modified habitat and monitored them around the clock. On the night of April 12, the sturgeons began exhibiting mating behaviors. By dawn, over 200,000 fertilized eggs were found scattered in the spawning ground. Under microscopic analysis, researchers confirmed the eggs were developing normally.
“The test success has proven that mature individuals in the artificially bred Yangtze sturgeon population have the ability to reproduce in the wild,” Liu Huanzhang explained. “This lays the foundation for the full restoration of the species’ natural reproduction in the river.”
The successful hatching of the sturgeon larvae is not just a victory for a single species but also signifies a positive shift in the health of the entire ecosystem. “The sturgeon is rather huge in waters, and adults may reach over one meter in length. Its survival reflects the health of the entire ecosystem,” said Liu Fei, an associate researcher at the IHB. “This success gives us a model for restoring other endangered aquatic species.”
The team plans to continue monitoring the young sturgeons in their natural habitat and refine their conservation strategies. “These efforts will not only restore the Yangtze sturgeon population but also contribute to the overall health and stability of the Yangtze River ecosystem,” Liu Huanzhang added.
This breakthrough marks a significant milestone in conservation efforts but is just the beginning of a long journey toward the full recovery of the species.
