Chinese Alligator - Meet The Endangered
Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis)
Smaller than its American counterpart, the Chinese alligator was nonetheless the likely inspiration for Chinese dragon myths, which have been integral to the nation’s culture for millennia. Despite this prestige, the rugged, panoplied species nearly went extinct in the late 1990s.
The numerous dams in the Yangtze basin have been the principal cause of the alligator’s decline. Its natural homeland is the marshy wetland forest that once flooded when the river ran wild. Now that water flow is controlled by large hydroelectric dams like the Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the world, the floods have gone, and the marshes have been drained for rice paddies.
Virtually the entire wild population now lives in the Anhui National Nature Reserve for Chinese Alligator (ANNRCA), a protected area of marshy wetland set aside specifically for the alligator's survival. There are nearly 2,000 individuals there now - a massive increase over the 150 counted in the early 2000s. Five times that number are thought to be held in captivity.
One day, perhaps decades or centuries from now, hydropower may no longer be necessary to generate electricity and Chinese alligators will roam a wild Yangtze once again. For now, the Chinese alligator has survived extinction and lives to return another day.
IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR)
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