"Water China Treasure" adds a baby, and thousands of netizens "accompany childbirth" online
"Onlookers" finless porpoises give birth, and it is even more necessary to strike while the iron is hot to achieve "prosperity of porpoises"
Our reporters Wang Zichen and Tan Yuanbin
The "water Chinese treasure" Yangtze finless porpoise (hereinafter referred to as "finless porpoise") has been bred with exciting good news once again. Drop female piglets "F9C22".
In the past few days, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the monitoring video of the whole process of finless porpoise birth for the first time through Xinhua News Agency. Authoritative experts entered the live broadcast room of the 5G Communication Innovation Laboratory of the Hubei Branch of Xinhua News Agency and interpreted it online through the social media account of Xinhua News Agency. Dozens of media broadcast it simultaneously. , attracting a large number of netizens to witness the special moment of "National Treasure Addition".
The protection of finless porpoise is inseparable from the support of science and technology. The birth of the juvenile porpoise condenses the hard work and unremitting efforts of researchers focusing on artificial breeding and protection for many years.
A recent investigation by a reporter from Xinhua Daily Telegraph found that artificial breeding is an important means to accumulate theoretical knowledge and basic technologies for in situ and ex situ conservation of finless porpoises. Attention must be paid.
Netizens have witnessed that the finless porpoise family has added another child
Sometimes diving down, sometimes sticking out of the water, sometimes swimming in the water... In the Baiji Dolphinarium of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the finless porpoise "F9C22" is playing in the company of its mother "Fujiu".
This is the new baby born by the "hero mother" and "Fujiu", and it is also a new achievement of artificial breeding of finless porpoises.
In the past few days, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the surveillance video of the whole process of finless porpoise childbirth for the first time through Xinhua News Agency, which has attracted widespread attention from netizens.
For a long time in the video, the "Fujiu" who was about to give birth was swimming in the water, which made netizens who "accompany childbirth" online feel anxious.
"How old is it, and how long is the pregnancy cycle?" "Why does 'Fujiu' keep going in circles?" "Does the finless porpoise give birth to one child?" "Does the finless porpoise usually give birth in summer?" "It's been observed for so long, why' Fu Jiu' has always been swimming clockwise?" "How large is the range of finless porpoises, and is it affected by the season?" "Will the finless porpoise be able to breed freely in the Yangtze River in the future?"... Witnessing the "nervous" birth of "Fujiu", netizens have Leave a message on the Xinhua Daily Telegraph Douyin account to ask questions and express concerns.
It is reported that from May to August every year is the peak breeding season for finless porpoises. In August last year, researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a physical examination on the female finless porpoise "Fujiu" through B-ultrasound and confirmed that she has been pregnant for more than a month. The gestation period of the finless porpoise is about 12 months, so it is estimated that the expected date of delivery may be in the middle and late June of this year.
Hao Yujiang, associate researcher of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that since pregnancy, the food intake of "Fujiu" has increased steadily, and the maximum daily intake can reach 3 to 4 kilograms. In order to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant dolphins during pregnancy, researchers have added fresh food to "Fujiu". Forage fish, and supplemented with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
At 16:00 on June 27, "Fujiu" showed obvious behaviors such as loss of appetite, shortened breathing interval, and floating. At the same time, the trainer found that colored liquid overflowed in the genital fissure area. The researchers immediately started 24-hour monitoring and did a good job. corresponding plan.
At about 19:35 that day, the caudal fin of the calf was delivered. After about 2 hours of delivery, the calf was successfully delivered at about 21:35 that night, and the number was "F9C22".
Hao Yujiang said that after the birth of "F9C22", "Fu Jiu" showed strong motherhood, and has been actively following the nurse, guiding "F9C22" to deep dive and escorting him.
Under the guidance of "Fujiu", the mother-daughter relationship was gradually established, and "F9C22" ate the first breast milk at about 4:30 the next day.
After more than a week of observation, the researchers confirmed that the mother "Fujiu" and the baby "F9C22" are currently healthy.
"Fujiu" moved from Poyang Lake to the Baiji Dolphinarium of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. He is now 14 years old and in his prime.
On the third day after "F9C22" was born, researchers confirmed that it was a female finless porpoise.
This has brought new hope to the artificial breeding group of finless porpoises in the Baiji Dolphinarium.
Seeing that the baby dolphin was delivered smoothly, netizens sent affectionate blessings one after another.
"I am very happy to see my Jiangxi 'little fellow' 'Fujiu' successfully give birth to a young dolphin! This is not only a 'witness' to the birth of 'Fujiu', but also a 'connection of love' between human beings and nature." Together with thousands of netizens Wen Chenghuan, a volunteer for the protection of Yangtze finless porpoise who is "accompanying birth" online, said that the Yangtze River has a unique ecosystem that has nurtured rich biological groups.
With the implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law, the concept of "together for great protection and not for great development" has become more and more popular among the people.
"I firmly believe that each of us can play a role and take active actions. The future of the Yangtze River will definitely be better. Then we can see more finless porpoise mothers floating on their backs in the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake. Out of the water scene."
Finless porpoise scientific research, to "make up for weak points"
The birth of new life always gives people hope and upward force.
In addition to the joy, some industry experts also reminded that as a national first-class protected wild animal, the results of the 2017 finless porpoise ecological scientific survey showed that the population of this flagship species of the Yangtze River ecosystem is only about 1,012, which is even rarer than the giant panda.
The Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences is the most authoritative scientific research institution for the protection of finless porpoises in China.
Over the years, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has cooperated with many domestic finless porpoise research and protection institutions to conduct continuous explorations on artificial breeding of finless porpoises. Except for the newly born "F9C22", there are currently 6 Yangtze finless porpoises reared, 3 of which are in artificial environment. The finless porpoises born in 2020, including the first second-generation finless porpoise "YYC" born in 2020, provide an important platform for understanding the basic biology and reproductive physiology of finless porpoises.
The reporter visited the Baiji Dolphinarium a few days ago and found that, unlike the scientific research units with advanced equipment in the imagination, the facilities and equipment here are relatively outdated.
It is reported that the museum was built in the 1990s and consists of a main breeding hall, a breeding hall, a life support system, an experimental building and a herbarium. The main facilities and equipment in the museum were donated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency when the museum was built.
"The equipment has been used for 30 years, and there is a risk of collapse at any time." said Wang Chaoqun, training director of the Baiji Dolphinarium, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The finless porpoise has extremely high requirements on the water quality of artificial breeding and needs to continuously circulate the water. At present, the two breeding halls need to circulate the water every day12 times, 1000 cubic meters of water is changed each time.
With long-term uninterrupted operation, water pumps and pipelines in the museum have leaked from time to time. In addition, some accessories have been discontinued and there are no substitutes. Once the life support system collapses, the artificially cultured finless porpoises in the museum are very likely to die.
The various problems caused by the shortage of funds for the Baiji Dolphinarium of the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences is a microcosm of the multiple difficulties encountered in the current scientific research and protection of finless porpoises.
Some industry experts said that the finless porpoise is very precious, and the investment in the protection of the finless porpoise should match the value of the finless porpoise.
On the one hand, there are not enough scientific research bases.
Wang Kexiong, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the finless porpoise belongs to cetaceans, and the institutions that carry out cetacean research mainly include the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Deep Sea of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beibu Gulf University, Anqing Normal University, Nanjing Normal University, etc., but focus on specific research. There are not many institutions for this species of finless porpoise.
In terms of discipline construction, local aquaculture research institutes and universities often focus on a certain aspect, failing to form a large-scale and systematic research team, so it is difficult to obtain in-depth and valuable research results.
In particular, the artificial breeding of finless porpoises has made preliminary progress, but there is still a long way to go before full artificial breeding.
On the other hand, there are certain gaps in the talent echelon.
Hao Yujiang said that as the largest finless porpoise research institution in the country, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has only 6 full-time finless porpoise researchers, plus more than 30 graduate students and employed staff.
Although the institute recruits several masters and doctors every year, it is difficult for the vast majority of graduate students to engage in finless porpoise research after graduation.
In addition to scientific researchers, veterinarians as professional technicians play an important role in the scientific research and protection of finless porpoises.
However, in some scientific research institutions, veterinarians are often hired as labor dispatch personnel, and their professionalism is not high and their work stability is not strong, which restricts the effective development of scientific research work.
In addition, the lack of research safeguards is also a cause for concern.
Yang Guang, a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Nanjing Normal University, said that because the research on finless porpoises is relatively "niche", it is difficult to win more project support.
Fundamental topics in finless porpoise research, such as artificial breeding, require long-term investment to achieve results, but the relevant support is not very sustainable.
At the same time, because the current finless porpoise protection involves different systems such as forestry and agriculture, it is difficult to get through the use of projects and funds between different channels, resulting in a structural imbalance in research support.
Strike while the iron is hot, the system improves protection
What is exciting is that, with the popularization of "joint capture and protection" and the implementation of the "ten-year fishing ban", the ecological and environmental protection of the Yangtze River is undergoing a turning point, and the protection measures and mechanisms for finless porpoises are constantly being improved.
In Wuhan, Hubei, the “Return of Finless Dolphins to River City” plan was launched locally. The Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly established the Wuhan Yangtze River Finless Dolphin Breeding and Conservation Technology Research Center to carry out finless porpoise breeding and upgrading of scientific and educational facilities; in Anqing, Anhui, the local The "Regulations on the Protection of Yangtze River Finless Dolphins in Anqing City" came into effect on January 1, 2019, to strengthen the protection of finless porpoises from a legislative perspective; in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, the local area actively promoted the construction of a national-level protection, scientific research and breeding in Hukou County, which is close to the river and the lake. Yangtze finless porpoise scientific research base.
A series of initiatives are producing visible results.
In Wuhan, finless porpoises appeared many times in the Yangtze River section, which attracted the attention of government departments, scientific research institutions and citizens; in Jingzhou, the population of finless porpoises on the old Yangtze River in Shishou Swanzhou continued to expand, becoming a model for ex situ conservation of finless porpoises; in the Qianjiang section of the Han River , The finless porpoise appeared for the first time in nearly 30 years.
In Yueyang, Hunan, Nanjing, Jiangsu and other places, finless porpoises also appeared frequently, causing public attention and heated discussions.
Some interviewed experts said that the iron needs to be struck while the iron is hot, and it is urgent to increase the support for the research team of finless porpoise protection, expand the research team of finless porpoise protection, and systematically improve the protection ability of finless porpoise.
On the one hand, it is necessary to lay out a finless porpoise research team system and carry out specialized research in different categories.
Yang Guang said that it is necessary to deploy multiple finless porpoise research institutions in key areas of finless porpoise protection, and through scientific division of labor, to expand technical exchanges and interactions between local aquatic research institutes, universities, and finless porpoise protection and management areas, especially to increase the number of units. The sharing of different research results and data such as basic, monitoring, restoration, etc., will jointly improve the overall level of scientific research on finless porpoise conservation.
Wang Ding, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and secretary-general of the National Committee on Chinese and the Biosphere of UNESCO, believes that the equipment and facilities of various finless porpoise research and protection technology platforms can be fully improved, and provide further breakthroughs in the important basic theory and key technical bottlenecks of finless porpoise protection. Indispensable guarantee condition.
In addition, it is also necessary to accelerate the application of new technologies and new achievements, and build a barrier to avoid species extinction.
Li Yanliang, president of the Aquatic Wildlife Protection Branch of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, believes that it is necessary to strengthen the protection of the genetic resources of the finless porpoise, carry out the collection, preservation and propagation of species genes, promote the genetic research of the finless porpoise, and establish a complete finless porpoise genealogy sample bank and genetic information. The bank uses the mature gene technology and advanced facilities and equipment of domestic biotechnology companies and research institutions to establish finless porpoise isolated cells and frozen sperm banks.
Li Yanliang said that, when necessary, the advanced equipment of artificial water bodies such as aquariums and sophisticated nursing techniques and teams can be used to establish ex situ groups of finless porpoises, and to provide bases and manpower for scientific research institutions to carry out scientific research activities and cultivate scientific research talents while conducting popular science education. , material support.
More importantly, we should actively strengthen the popularization and education of finless porpoise protection, and continuously improve public awareness of protection.
Wang Wengao, head of the Wuhan Agricultural Comprehensive Law Enforcement Detachment, said that it can adapt to the changes in the digital era, build a "digital finless porpoise" online and offline platform, develop "digital finless porpoise" products, and attract citizens to participate and interact.
The Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Conservation Foundation suggested that the protection of finless porpoises should be vigorously strengthened into the classroom, and the awareness of finless porpoise protection should be cultivated in children through special courses on finless porpoise knowledge and organizing students to participate in finless porpoise patrols.