Chinese alligators are making a comeback, according to experts
with the State Forestry Administration, since a program to boost
their dwindling numbers was launched in 2003.
The administration reported on Thursday that three Chinese
alligators, two females and one male, that were released into the
wild four years ago in Anhui Province, had successfully adapted to
their new home. During the period, 105 eggs were hatched.
Experts called this a milestone accomplishment in promoting
population growth for the endangered creature.
The Chinese alligator, also known as Yangtze alligator, lived in
large numbers more than 230 million years ago, particularly on the
eastern seaboard. An adult one could measure up to two meters in
length. The reptile is nicknamed a "living fossil" and is
considered as rare as the giant panda.
"Yangtze alligators were still reasonably common until the 1980s
but as local people turned forests into farmlands, the animals
disappeared," said 78-year-old Hu Dahua, a resident of Gaojingmiao,
site of the State Forest Farm in Anhui Province that is also a
nature reserve for the alligators.
Since 2003, scientists have released 15 captive-bred Chinese
alligators on three separate occasions. In June, six were released
in Anhui Province.
"Scientists will monitor the six alligators through a wireless
tracking devices for 18 months," said Wang Chaolin, vice director
of the Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center.
A 2005 survey found that about 120 Chinese alligators were
living in the wild, mostly in the Anhui Province nature
reserve.
Over the past two years, about 100 alligators are believed to
have been born in the wild, said sources at the center.
Wang said the center was keen to see a population of at least
500 wild Chinese alligators, a number that would mark a true
success in restoring the species. He added the center's release
activities would spur further population growth.
The Chinese government has put the reptile at the top of its
protection list. In 1979, it set up the Chinese Alligator Breeding
Research Center in Anhui Province. Since then, the number of
alligators at the center has risen from about 200 to more than
10,000 at present. The center said it could hatch about 1,500
reptiles annually.
The Chinese alligator is now safe from extinction, according to
Wang, but is still listed as one of the world's most endangered
creatures.
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2007)
