Chinese Alligator
The Story of the Chinese Alligator
The Chinese alligator is also called Tou Lung and Yangtze alligator. It is found mainly in the lower part of the Yangtze River, and most live in the Anhui province. The Chinese alligator likes streams and rivers that are slow-moving, and can also be found in swamps, ponds and lakes. Sometimes they can also be seen in tree farms at low elevations, probably because periodic flooding leaves the land marshy.
Chinese alligators spend a good deal of time (as much as six or seven months a year) hibernating inside burrow systems. In this way, they escape the cold winter temperatures of the area in which they live.
It is estimated that only two hundred Chinese alligators are currently living in the wild. Some say that they are already extinct. However, the populations in captivity are healthy. The Chinese are working with reintroduction to their native areas, but it remains a possibility that they will go fully extinct in the wild.
The Chinese alligator is a smaller member of the reptile family, usually reaching about six feet in length, although reports of nine foot long specimens are found in literature about Chinese history. The young gators are usually black, and they have bright yellow bands around them. The end of their snout is turned up and is more tapered than that of the American alligator. They also have teeth that are much better for chewing than their American cousins, and they feed a great deal on hard-shelled mollusks. The scales of their body are ossified, which makes the skin nearly worthless on the market.
The Chinese alligator has a total of 72-76 teeth, and they hunt mainly at night during the months of April through October. Their main prey are aquatic invertebrates, like mussels and snails. They also eat fish, and will attack and kill rats and ducks if their normal prey is missing.
Even though they are timid by nature, Chinese alligators are associated with the mythical Chinese dragon. This has not helped the species stave off the ramifications of human impact. The Chinese are constantly expanding their cities, and space is at a premium, so the wetland areas that the alligator calls home are disappearing. Many dams have been built to generate electricity for China's ever-increasing population, and this has enabled land to be reclaimed for farm land, when it used to be marshland.
Most of the still-wild alligators are in or near areas that bring them into contact with people trying to farm, and their burrows cause damage to the fields. Adult alligators will also prey on farms' ducks. To the ancients, the alligator may have been associated with a mythical dragon, but to the farmers of today, the Chinese alligator is a nuisance that they will eliminate wherever possible.