China releases 500 rare sturgeon bred in captivity

Staff members transfer the Chinese sturgeon in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, April 8, 2017. About 500 captive-bred Chinese sturgeon were released Saturday into a section of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province to increase the wild population of the rare species. The released sturgeon, aged between three and six years old, are around 110 centimeters long and weigh about 5.5 kilograms on average. This is the 59th release by the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of China Three Gorges Corp., which has introduced more than five million sturgeon to the wild since the 1980s. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)