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Artificially Bred Male Finless Porpoise Turns Two

 

The male finless porpoise "E'bo" celebrated its second birthday on Tuesday, equivalent to less than ten years old in humans. The cub was artificially bred by the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It weighs more than 60 kilograms and is nearly 1.4 meters long. It eats four kilograms of food per day. His mother, Fuqi, was introduced from Poyang Lake (in east China's Jiangxi Province).

As a mammal living in water, the first thing of a finless porpoise cub is to breathe out of water. However, when "E'bo" was born, it could not swim up and breathe due to a connected umbilical cord, and the keeper lifted it out of the water to breathe the fresh air.

Finless porpoise cubs will not be breastfed after six months, but "E'bo" had been fed breast milk until turned one. Its behavior helps researchers learn more about the species. (CGTN)