Artificial breeding of Yangtze finless porpoises adds a new member to the family, so long as the environment is suitable, finless porpoises can have two births every three years.

    On the morning of April 24th, "Fujiu" spit for a while, and then circled.

    At 18: 15 on June 9th, the female Yangtze finless porpoise (hereinafter referred to as finless porpoise) "Fujiu" reared in Baiji Dolphin Museum, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences gave birth successfully, giving birth to a male finless porpoise with a body length of about 70cm and a weight of about 5kg, numbered F9C24, adding a new member to the artificially bred Yangtze finless porpoise family. For more than 10 days, the finless porpoise has been growing well and is currently undergoing a unique "molting" process.

    The dolphin mother "Fujiu" was introduced from Poyang Lake to Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Museum in 2011. She is 15 years old and is in her prime.

    On May 10th, researchers did B-ultrasound in the natural state of water, and "Fujiu" cooperated with the breeder tacitly. Photography Gao Baoyan

    At the beginning of June last year, during the most frequent period of finless porpoise breeding activities, Baibo Dolphin Museum began to monitor Fujiu by B-ultrasound. From June 12, 2023, the staff monitored the discharge of fertilized eggs, the growth and development of finless porpoise embryos, and the birth of finless porpoise. The 362 days of "Fujiu" pregnancy were completely recorded through B-ultrasound monitoring.

    After 12 months of pregnancy, on the morning of June 9 this year, the nursing staff noticed that "Fujiu" began to jump violently and returned to calm after one and a half minutes. Subsequently, it is accompanied by intermittent fast swimming and jumping behavior.

    Through these abnormal movements, the nursing staff judged that "Fujiu" was about to have a baby!

    Accompanied by researchers and nurses, Fujiu successfully gave birth to the finless porpoise F9C24.

    The mother "Fujiu" of the finless porpoise is interacting with the newborn finless porpoise. Photo courtesy of Wuhan baiji dolphin protection fund

    According to Wang Chaoqun, the training director of Baiji Dolphin Museum, after the baby dolphin is born, its umbilical cord connected with its mother’s blood is automatically disconnected due to pulling; Then the dolphin mother "Fujiu" quickly found the child, accompanied her intimately, and quickly started parent-child interaction; On the day of birth, the finless porpoise F9C24 sucked its first breast milk.

    "Fujiu" takes special care of the newborn finless porpoise. At the time of birth, "F9C24" almost hit the wall of the breeding pond several times because of the lack of swimming skills and strength. In order to protect the children, "Fujiu" intimately accompanied the small finless porpoise on the outside, blocking it with his body until it could swim normally.

    The finless porpoise is going through the process of molting. It began to shed its fetal skin a week after birth, and then put on a smoother "coat" to adapt to the changes in the environment.

    This is the second child of Fujiu. On June 27th, 2022, Fujiu successfully gave birth to her first little princess-Jiujiu. In order to let more people know more about the finless porpoise and better participate in the finless porpoise protection, in 2022, Wuhan Agriculture and Rural Bureau, together with Hubei Branch of Xinhua News Agency and Institute of Aquatic Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, planned and launched the popular science public welfare action of "witnessing the delivery of the Yangtze finless porpoise". This is the first live webcast of the whole process of finless porpoise delivery in the world, attracting 220 million people to accompany the delivery online. Enthusiastic netizens named the little finless porpoise "Jiujiu" on the spot.

    Hao Yujiang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Jiujiu, who is about to celebrate his second birthday, is lively and healthy, weighing 42 kilograms and 1.27 meters long. He is the star finless porpoise in the Baibo Dolphin Museum.

    The fathers of two small finless porpoises are both Taotao, who were born in Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Museum on July 5, 2005. They are the first finless porpoises in the world to reproduce naturally in an artificial environment. These small finless porpoises have become the "second generation" finless porpoises naturally propagated in artificial environment, which has important scientific research value.

    Wang Chaoqun told reporters that the pregnancy cycle of finless porpoise is 12 months. Generally speaking, a female dolphin may breed 7-12 small finless porpoises in her lifetime. Wang Ding, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the finless porpoise’s own reproductive ability is still relatively strong, and it can give birth to two babies in three years. In Tianezhou finless porpoise reserve, researchers have observed that some finless porpoises are pregnant again during breastfeeding. (Reporter Jin Wenbing correspondent Deng Xiaojun Peng Bowei Huang Min Liu Jingtuo) (Fan Jiaman also contributed to this article)

    ■ Taotao Accompanying Diary

    Hello, everyone! I am Taotao, the world’s first Yangtze finless porpoise successfully bred in artificial environment.

    Tell everyone a good news! At 18: 15 on June 9, 2024, my third child was born.

    The Baiji Dolphin Museum has arranged a bright and spacious single room and intimate partners for Fujiu during pregnancy.

    Our Yangtze finless porpoise is the only aquatic mammal in the Yangtze River, and it is also a national first-class protected animal. It is known as the "smiling angel", and artificial breeding is one of the important ways to protect us. Now, the river has become clear, and the Yangtze River has gradually recovered its vitality. By 2023, the number of dolphins in our family had risen to 1,249.

    I have lived in Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Museum for 19 years. In 2020 and 2022, I had my son "Hanbao" and my daughter "Jiujiu" respectively. The children’s names imply that the dolphin born in Wuhan is happy and long-lasting.

    Last June, my daughter-in-law, the finless porpoise "Fujiu", was pregnant. During the delivery, I would like to thank the researchers of Baiji Dolphin Museum, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences for taking good care of her.

    Today, I will expose this visual diary exclusively for everyone and share my joy with everyone who loves finless porpoises.

    Thanks to all the people who care about the finless porpoise! Everyone calls finless porpoises "smiling angels". May there be more and more "smiles" in this world.

    Dolphin Taotao

    Wuhan, June 20, 2024

    (Text/Gao Baoyan)