Six Chinese alligators that were raised in captivity have been released into the wilds in east China's Anhui Province, scientists said on Saturday.

 

The release of the alligators at Gaojingmiao Tree Farm in Langxi County coincided with the release of the first ever human-raised giant panda in Wolong, southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday.

 

The scientists will monitor the six Chinese alligators with wireless tracking devices for 18 months, said Zhu Jialong, director of the Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center.

 

The center successfully released three adult Chinese alligators, two females and one male, into the wild in Xuanzhou prefecture of Xuancheng in 2003. Three of them are well and the females have hatched eggs, Zhu said.

 

Zhu's center chose Gaojingmiao Tree Farm to release the alligators in 2003 after inspecting several sites. The tree farm covers an area of some 1,300 hectares and had been the natural habitat of wild Chinese alligators.

 

The release project was approved by the State Forestry Administration in 2000.

 

To protect Chinese alligators, which are under state first-grade protection, from extinction, the Chinese government set up the Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center in Xuancheng, Anhui province, in 1979.

 

The number of Chinese alligators in the center has risen from about 200 to more than 10,000. The center said it could hatch such 1,500 reptiles a year.

 

The Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangtze alligator, is now safe from extinction, announced Xie Wanshu, former director of the Chinese Alligators Breeding Research Center, in June, 2001.

 

However, the number in the wild continues to decline.

 

Only 150 Chinese alligators are believed to be living in the wild, in pockets in east China's Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. Each year the number of alligators decline by 4 to 6 percent, said sources with the center.

 

The Chinese alligator has existed for 230 million years, and is known as a "living fossil." An adult Chinese alligator measures about 2 m in length. The alligators feed on small animals such as mice, frogs and birds. The species had been listed as one of the most endangered creatures in the world.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2006)