Adult Chinese Alligator
The Chinese
alligator is one of two known living species of Alligator, a genus in the family Alligatoridae. It is native only to eastern China.
While its appearance is very similar to the only other living member of the genus, the American alligator, there are a few differences. Usually this species only attains an adult length of 5 feet (1.5 m) and a mass of 80 pounds (36 kg).
Exceptionally large males have reached 7 feet (2.1 m) in length and 100 pounds (45 kg) in weight. Reports are known of alligators in China reaching 10 feet (3.0 m) in centuries past, but these are now generally considered apocryphal. Unlike the American alligator, the Chinese alligator is fully armored; even the belly is armored, which is a feature of only a few
crocodilians.
Baby and Egg Chinese Alligator
While it originally ranged through much of China, this species' wild habitat has been reduced to little more than a few ponds containing 100 to 200 individuals along Lake Tai and 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. A majority of their usual wetland habitats have been turned into rice paddies.
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.