What does the disappearance of the Yangtze River beluga sturgeon tell us about mankind?

On July 21, 2022, the INDUCT updated the list of globally endangered species once again, in which the Yangtze River white sturgeon, a species endemic to the Yangtze River in China, has been declared extinct, not only making people feel sorry for it.

According to this globally endangered species list record, after the extinct Yangtze River white sturgeon, there are a variety of sturgeon around the world in the next period or will face the crisis of extinction.

Will the 3-meter Yangtze River beluga sturgeon, which was human in 2003, be the last one on earth?

Beluga sturgeon is an endemic species in China and is found in the Yangtze River.

In 2003, an event that could go down in history occurred for the Yangtze River white sturgeon. Fishermen in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Sichuan waters accidentally caught a Yangtze River white sturgeon while fishing in the river.

This Yangtze River white sturgeon which people used to see are larger, body length of about 3 meters, weighs about 320 pounds, and even has 8 strong men, lifting is also very hard. Not only is the weight of this Yangtze River white sturgeon relatively large, but the Yangtze River white sturgeon is extremely smooth all over its body and can easily slip out of your hands.

At the time the fishermen caught this Yangtze River Beluga, the head of the sturgeon had been injured and was in urgent need of medical attention. Finding such a cherished white sturgeon, experts around Shanghai and Zhejiang conducted a question-and-answer activity via video while rushing to the scene by car, hoping to save this Yangtze River white sturgeon successfully.

This Yangtze River white sturgeon was not very active swimming after being captured on the boat and showed signs of the belly turning upward rarely shaking. People who often fish in the river know that this may not wait for the expert group to come, this Yangtze River white sturgeon has not.

At this point, someone came up with a way to wrap the Yangtze sturgeon in cotton cloth, and then find a few strong men to carry it into a large enough to move in the box. At the scene, we all work together some people will take off their cotton clothes, to this Yangtze River white sturgeon wrapped body, and a little bit, and finally this Yangtze River white sturgeon lifted into the tank.

In order not to let the state of this Yangtze River white sturgeon continue to decline, fishermen and staff together the Yangtze River white sturgeon splashed water on the body, and constantly injected oxygen into the tank, after several hours, this Yangtze River white sturgeon finally returned to normal.

According to the old fishermen nearby, it has been a long time since we have seen the Yangtze River white sturgeon in the Yangtze River, not to mention that it is so big, that is, the small ones can not be seen, before that there has been speculation that the Yangtze River white sturgeon is not extinct.

The last Yangtze River white sturgeon, why was lost to humans?

Soon, a fish expert arrived at the scene and did a more detailed examination of the Yangtze River white sturgeon. The results of the examination showed that this was a female Yangtze River white sturgeon, aged around 20 years old, with two head injuries that required surgical stitching.

After designing a detailed rescue plan, the group of experts for the Yangtze River white sturgeon shot local anesthesia, and soon began the "local surgery", the operation also went very smoothly, with a total of 24 stitches.

To let the Yangtze River white sturgeon's wounds heal as soon as possible, the expert group also for the Yangtze River white sturgeon for a few days of drip, and finally determined that the Yangtze River white sturgeon will be released into the Yangtze River.

After the judgment of several researchers, it is likely that this injured Yangtze River white sturgeon, is the last white sturgeon in the Yangtze River. Before releasing the sturgeon, the staff installed a small acoustic device on the side of its body to allow humans to track the sturgeon's whereabouts at any time.

However, to everyone's surprise, after the Yangtze River sturgeon was re-released into the Yangtze River, our tracking boat lost it. It happened on January 30, 2003, the tracking boat followed the Yangtze sturgeon to the "Jingle" section of the river in Sichuan, the day just in time to catch the foggy sky, the tracking boat accidentally hit the reef in the river, and was forced to stop the boat for maintenance.

After six hours of repair, when the tracking boat again looked for the Yangtze River white sturgeon acoustic signal, but how can not find it, from now on announced that the Yangtze River white sturgeon lost. Now, 20 years later, humans have not detected the sonic signal of the Yangtze River sturgeon in the Yangtze River. Most people believe that the sturgeon is dead.

What has the disappearance of the Yangtze River Beluga taught humans?

For the extinction of the Yangtze River white sturgeon, scholars share the same feeling of regret, the Earth's creatures need more diversity, rather than let them a little away from humans.

In the past few years, scholars have been putting forward the argument that the Yangtze sturgeon is almost extinct, and have offered some reflections, such as if humans could better protect rivers and lakes, timely protection of some endangered species, or artificial intervention to reproduce, there might not be so many species extinct during the period of rapid human industrial development.

Today, in addition to the Yangtze River white sturgeon, seven other species of sturgeon around the world are also included in the world's red warning of endangered species. If humans do not better protect the earth and the environment, more species will disappear from our sight.

China banned fishing in the Yangtze River basin more than 10 years ago, and now, more than 10 years later, the amount of fish in the Yangtze River basin is almost back to the level of 70 years ago, and the surrounding environment has been greatly improved, so I believe the ecological environment of the Yangtze River basin will become better and better in the future.