Considering the records tracked during the last 32 years, it has been observed that China's Class One Protected Animal, the wild Chinese sturgeon, is on the verge of getting extinct.

A report by the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences has stated that in 2013 it was observed that the Chinese sturgeons were not at all reproducing in polluted and crowded Yangtze River. Nearly 140 million legendary species have largely dispersed over the main streams of the Yangtze River and coastal regions of Qiantang River, Minjiang River and Pearl River.

Principal investigator at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences is Wei Qiwei. Explaining the findings of the report, he said last year between October 31 and December 28, the researchers were unable to discover even a single egg laid by the wild sturgeons in a river water area downstream the Gezhou Dam in central China's Hubei Province.

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 25 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. The wild Chinese sturgeons are generally considered as seasoned travelers. Wei Qiwei also stated that currently only 100 of the sturgeons remain as against several thousand in the 1980s.

The primary cause of the huge decline in population is not only reduction in water quality due to population but also loss of habitat along with ill practices of overfishing.

Also, in recent years the Yangtze River has seen the construction of the largest dam in the world, three Gorges. These dams were constructed to increase the electrical supply of the country but have led to environmental degradation. By constructing these dams, the habitat of a range of endangered species has got badly affected.

Besides the wild Chinese sturgeon, other endangered species include Yangtze River dolphin and Chinese alligator.