Title
A Population and Nesting Survey of Reintroduced Chinese Alligators at Dongtan Wetland Park, Shanghai, China
Author(s)
Steven G. Platt; Fenglian Li; Qijing He
Published
2016
Abstract
The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is considered the most critically endangered crocodilian in the world (Xing 2010). Fewer than 150 Chinese alligators survive in the wild, and these occur in small populations at widely scattered sites; the largest population at any particular site numbers no more than 20 individuals and contains <10 adults (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 1999; Thorbjarnarson et al. 2002; Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010). Sites occupied by wild Chinese alligators are typically patches of marginal habitat embedded within agricultural landscapes. Importantly, the agricultural lands surrounding occupied sites effectively block the dispersal of alligators, thereby precluding genetic exchange between wild populations (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010). Furthermore, the limited areal extent of most occupied habitats prevents any significant increase in the size of wild populations (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010).
In contrast to the tenuous conservation status of wild populations, ex-situ propagation has proven remarkably successful and thousands of alligators (> 14,000 in 2015; Professor Lu Shunqing, unpubl. data) are now maintained at two government operated conservation-breeding centers in China (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010; Platt 2012). An action plan prepared in 2001 by Chinese and international scientists strongly recommended that new wild populations be established by releasing captive-bred and head-started A. sinensis into suitable, but unoccupied habitat (Jiang et al. 2006). To this end, a trial release of six adult Chinese alligators was conducted at Dongtan Wetland Park (DWP) on Chongming Island in June 2007 (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010). Chongming Island is a large alluvial island (1267 km2) at the mouth of the Yangtze River near Shanghai, and within the known historic distribution of A. sinensis (Platt 2012). DWP is a popular outdoor recreation area and consists of 860 ha of freshwater marsh dominated by Phragmites australis. These marshlands host an abundance of potential prey such as aquatic insects, mollusks, fish, snails, crustaceans (including the invasive Procambarus clarki), snakes, and frogs, and as such is considered excellent alligator habitat (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010; Lu et al. 2014). Thorbjarnarson and Wang (2010) suggested DWP could ultimately support as many as 300 adult A. sinensis and considered it the most important site for alligator conservation in China.
Keywords
Chinese alligator; reintroduction; Shanghai; China
Full Citation
Platt, S., F. Li, and Q. He (2016). A Population and Nesting Survey of Reintroduced Chinese Alligators at Dongtan Wetland Park, Shanghai, China. Beijing, China: Wildlife Conservation Society, China.
Access Full Text
![]()
Back
DMX4303400000