 In 1988, the River Dolphin Research group in Wuhan proposed the idea of placing the rapidly declining baiji in the Tian'e-Zhou oxbow lake.The reserve was intended to hold any captured baiji, since it had a healthy population of fish and could sustain over 50 baiji if breeding was successful.The oxbow was connected to the Yangtze during the summer season when the water level was high, so nets were installed to ensure the baiji would not escape.