Chinese Sturgeon Museum



The Chinese Sturgeon Museum is a part of the Chinese Sturgeon Garden that is located in Yichang of
Hubei Province. The museum was set up in 1982 by the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute, which uses
artificial breeding techniques to try to preserve this endangered species.

The Chinese sturgeon, also known as Green Sturgeon, is a kind of migration fish, it is strictly protected by
the Chinese government. Chinese sturgeon. Chinese sturgeon has a history of 140 million years, and is
thought to have lived at the same time as dinosaurs, earning it the nickname “living fossil”. The Chinese
sturgeon can grow up to 4 meters (13 feet) in length, weighs up to more than 1000 pounds, and ranks the
biggest of all species of sturgeon in the world.

A mature Chinese sturgeon, over 14 years old for the female sturgeon, can lay about 0.3 million to 1.3 million eggs at one time; unfortunately, more
than 90% of these eggs will become the dinner of other fish, such as the bronze gudgeon and the yellow cartfish. Therefore, the considerable
reduction of the number of this specie makes it a highly prized variety of Chinese sturgeon.

The Chinese sturgeon mainly resides in the tributaries of the Yangtze River and in some coastal rivers. Between summer and autumn every year,
they swim in schools upstream to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, even further than Chongqing, where they breed. After, they swim
downstream where the young grow in the China East Sea and the Yellow Sea.

During your trip to the Chinese Sturgeon Museum, you will have the opportunity to enjoy seeing not only Chinese sturgeon but also Russia
sturgeon, American Paddlefish, Amur sturgeon, Hybrid sturgeon and many more. Other wildlife includes the Chinese alligator, also called Yangtze
alligator, along with the giant salamander and mullet.

In 1982 the Chinese government set up a major institution to protect the precious rare species, and to
research the reproduction of the rare Chinese sturgeon in order to preserve them. From 1984, 4.44 million
young Chinese sturgeon have been put into the Yangtze River. Since 1988 in order to provide the species
with even greater protection, the Chinese sturgeon has been upgraded and has received a state-protected
animal classification.