Chinese Alligator

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Chinese Alligator

Conservation status

Critically endangered (IUCN)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Crocodilia
Family:	Alligatoridae
Genus:	Alligator
Species:	A. sinensis

Binomial name

Alligator sinensis
Fauvel, 1879

The Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) is one of two living species of Alligator, a genus within the family Alligatoridae. The Chinese Alligator is native only to China. It is smaller than the other Alligator species, the American Alligator.

1 Description
2 Geographic range & habitat
3 Conservation status
4 In captivity
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Description

Physically, this species is an almost perfect miniature of its American cousin. Chinese alligators rarely exceed 7 feet long (2.1 m), with 5 feet (1.5 m) being a more common size. Weight is approximately 80 lb (36 kg). They have proportionally larger heads than young American alligators of the same size, as well as having scales that are more granular and a pattern of faint, light bands against their dark background.

[edit] Geographic range & habitat

While it originally ranged through much of China, this species' wild habitat has been reduced to little more than a few ponds containing a small number of animals (<200 individuals, only approximately 50 of which are mature) along the lower Yangtze River in the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. Its population reduction has been mostly due to conversion of its habitat to agricultural use. Poisoning of rats, which the alligators then eat, has also been blamed for their decline. In the past decade, very few wild nests have been found, and even fewer produced viable offspring.

[edit] Conservation status

The Chinese alligator is listed as a CITES Appendix I species, which puts extreme restrictions on its trade and exportation throughout the world. It is IUCN Red Listed as a critically endangered species. Efforts are underway to reintroduce captive bred animals to suitable wild habitats, but thus far have not met with much success.

[edit] In captivity

Chinese alligators are quite prolific in captivity, with estimates of the total captive population at over 10,000 animals, mostly in the Anhui Research Centre of Chinese Alligator Reproduction and the Madras Crocodile Bank, as well as numerous zoos.

This species is widely regarded as quite docile, but, as with any large crocodilian, it is capable of inflicting grievous bodily harm on an unwary keeper and should thus be treated with caution

[edit] References

Crocodile Specialist Group (1996). Alligator sinensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Critically Endangered (CR A1c, D v2.3)