Title
Assessing potential reintroduction sites for Chinese alligators in Anhui Province, China
Author(s)
Lu, S.;Platt, S.G.;Liu, B.;Yuelong, W.;Kongming, W.;Hong, Z.
Published
2015
Publisher
Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter
Abstract
The Chinese alligator (Alligatorsinensis) is regarded
as 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 locations; the largest population at any particular
site numbers no more than 20 individuals and contains <10
adults (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 1999, 2010; Thorbjarnarson
et al. 2002). Sites occupied by wild Chinese alligators are
typically small patches of marginal habitat embedded within
an agricultural landscape. Agricultural lands surrounding
occupied habitats effectively isolate these populations,
blocking dispersal, and precluding inter-population genetic
exchange. Moreover, the limited areal extent of occupied
habitats prevents any significant increase in the size of wild
alligator populations (Thorbjarnarson and Wang 2010).
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