The Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center in east China's
Anhui
Province plans to breed alligators in the wild for the first
time, according to an official of the center.
To keep the Chinese alligators, which are under state
first-grade protection, from extinction, the Chinese government set
up the state nature reserve in Xuancheng, a city in east China's
Anhui Province, twenty years ago.
The number of the Chinese alligators has risen from about 200 to
more than 10,000. However, the number in the wild continues to
decline.
Only 150 Chinese alligators are left in the wild, living in
pockets in east China's Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. Each
year the number of alligators declines 4 to 6 percent, said sources
with the center.
The Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center in Anhui
Province has released three adult Chinese alligators, two females
and one male, into the wild in the protection site in the Xuanzhou
prefecture of Xuancheng in 2003. The wireless electric tracing
monitors reported satisfactory reactions from the alligators.
The center decided to invest huge funds to develop wetlands and
special release spots. In May an additional nine to twelve Chinese
alligators will be released.
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(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2005)