A CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SALMON · the taimen of the upper Yangtze
Hand-Painted Detail
Every scale, feather and marking is painted by hand to match the real animal — so detailed up close, so charming on the shelf.
Ready to Display
A single, sturdy piece — no assembly, no fuss. Set it on a desk or shelf and it holds its pose, ready to collect and show off.
Few fish in China are rarer than this one. The Sichuan taimen is a salmon that never goes to sea — a cold-water hunter of the upper Yangtze’s mountain tributaries, now down to only a few thousand adults. Here it’s reimagined round and friendly, mouth open as if mid-gulp.
Named for Two Provinces
Its Chinese name, chuan-shan zhe-luo-gui, nods to Sichuan and Shaanxi — the two provinces whose mountain rivers still hold it. Populations survive in a handful of upper Yangtze tributaries and in the headwaters of the Han River.
A Salmon That Stays Home
Unlike ocean-going salmon, taimen spend their whole lives in fresh water, in cold, fast, oxygen-rich streams. They rank among the largest members of the salmon family, and this one lives farther south than its Siberian and European cousins.
Under Pressure
Dams, logging, road building and illegal fishing have pushed it to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In 2021 China raised it to first-class national protection, the country’s highest level.
Patience in a River
Biologists estimate a generation time of about 17 years for this species, so every lost adult takes a long time to replace. That slow pace is exactly why each surviving river matters.
Craft & Specifications
| Line | Solo Edition, by Animal Heavenly Body |
| Approx. Size | Size to be confirmed |
| Material | Hand-painted resin |
| Display | Single figure — ready to display out of the box |
| SKU | AHB-SOLO-01 |
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.