Chinese Alligator Fund
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The Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) is believed that it will become extinct in about fifteen years.. At the moment in a area called Anhui in China, are thirteen ponds with only about ten of these actually holding the alligators with any one pond having a max of eleven animals. This is the animal that provided the much known chinese dragon myth. There is a breeding program setup by biologist and they are protected under the maximum law but they still need international help to secure the habitat and educate the public on these wonderful animals.
Great
News: From
the Wildlife Conservation Society
NEW YORK (JUNE 5, 2003) -- Three adult Chinese alligators –
the world's most endangered crocodilian species – were
successfully released in China recently by a team of biologists
in an effort to help restore the species to the Yangtze River
valley, the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
announced today.
Currently numbering less than 130 individuals, wild populations
of Chinese alligators are currently relegated to a few drainage
ditches and farm ponds in China's Anhui Province, with their
numbers continuing to decline as much as six percent annually.
The three released animals came from an alligator breeding
center. Scientists equipped each individual with a radio
transmitter to track its movements.
The team, which included members of WCS, Anhui Forest Department,
and East China Normal University, chose a site called Hong Xin, a
20-acre artificial lake used for rice and tea farming. The pond
already contains a few individual alligators, and biologists are
hopeful that release of the new animals will increase breeding
opportunities.
"This is an experimental release designed to see how
feasible it will be to use captive-reared alligators for future
reintroduction programs," said WCS conservationist Dr. John
Thorbjarnarson. "It will also help scientists understand
more about the behavior and ecology of this species, and how
resident alligators may adapt to the presence of new
animals."
The Chinese alligator, known locally as Tu Long, or "muddy
dragon," is one of just two alligator species in the world,
having diverged from their American counterparts at least 20
million years ago. They reach lengths of about six feet -- only
half the size of American alligators -- and feed on small fish,
snails, crayfish. Among crocodilians, the Chinese alligator is
the most endangered, followed by the Philippine, Siamese, Cuban
and Orinoco crocodiles. WCS is currently working to protect all
five species.
The future survival of the Chinese alligator outside of breeding
centers will depend on the success of efforts to bolster existing
groups, or establish new groups of individuals by releasing
captive-bred animals into areas of suitable habitat, according to
WCS. At its Bronx Zoo headquarters, WCS maintains a population of
Chinese alligators, and is the leader of its Species Survival
Plan, which involves a network of zoos working to maintain
healthy captive populations.
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Pics belong to Dr. Adam Britton.
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