The world’s first artificially bred Yangtze finless porpoise has turned 21, and its overall health remains stable

The Yangtze finless porpoise “Taotao,” artificially bred at the Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Museum, turned 21 on July 5. On that day, several generations of scientists involved in Yangtze finless porpoise conservation were on site to celebrate its birthday. Reports show that the Yangtze finless porpoise had long faced pressure from a sustained decline in population. In recent years, as measures such as insitu conservation, exsitu conservation, artificial breeding, the Yangtze River protection campaign, and the tenyear fishing ban have continued to advance, the Yangtze finless porpoise population stopped declining for the first time in 2022 and recovered to 1,426 by 2025. “Taotao” was born in 2005 and has already produced three sons and one daughter. Researchers said it has now entered old age, and its food intake and eating speed have decreased, but its overall health remains relatively stable. The team is helping it spend its later years in comfort by adjusting feeding methods and providing nutritional supplements. The Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that work on artificial breeding of the Yangtze finless porpoise has been underway for 30 years. Relevant teams have established a relatively mature system of husbandry, management, and breeding techniques, and have also built a sperm bank for the Yangtze finless porpoise. Going forward, researchers will continue to monitor the physiological changes of aging individuals and advance research on assisted reproductive technologies to reduce the risk of inbreeding in the artificial population.