Skip to main content
WWF

Rewilding the Danube River

Shore of Danube River
SHRINKING SPACE Wild sturgeon once thrived across Europe. Today, the last wild sturgeon populations still reproducing naturally in Europe are found only in the free-flowing Lower Danube, which courses through Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia.

© GEORGE CARACAȘ/WWF-ROMANIA

A person holds a small sturgeon in their hands.
AT RISK Hydropower dams have erased important spawning and feeding areas, cutting off fish migration paths. Of the six sturgeon species native to this stretch of the Danube River, two are extinct and four (such as the baby Russian sturgeon pictured) face high risk of extinction.

© CRISTIAN MITITELU-RĂILEANU/WWF-ROMANIA

Sturgeon in a bucket
COMFORT ZONES In the MEASURES restocking project, the young fish are raised in ponds filled with river water from the location of their future release. This allows the migratory fish to adapt to the freshwater into which they will be released and to which they will return to breed. Researchers attach yellow tags to the fish for later identification.

© GEORGE CARACAȘ/WWF-ROMANIA

People on riverside examining fish
DATA TO THE RESCUE As the tagged fish migrate out to the sea and then back to the river, records of their journeys will provide important data for researchers working to restore healthy populations.

© GEORGE CARACAȘ/WWF-ROMANIA

A waterfall in a dense forest

Support WWF

For $10 a month, get World Wildlife in print
Donate now

© ADRIANO GAMBARINI/WWF-US

Explore more

Keep reading this issue of World Wildlife magazine

Summer 2021: Table of Contents
World Wildlife magazine Summer 2021
View all Issues