Save the Dragon/Chinese Alligator

The Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) is believed that it will become extinct in about fifteen years.. At the moment in a area called Anhui in China, are thirteen ponds with only about ten of these actually holding the alligators with any one pond having a max of eleven animals. This is the animal that provided the much known chinese dragon myth. There is a breeding program setup by biologist and they are protected under the maximum law but they still need international help to secure the habitat and educate the public on these wonderful animals.

XINHUA (Beijing, China) 18 July 02 China approves project to preserve endangered reptile.
Hangzhou: China's national forestry authority has approved a 10-million yuan (1.2 million US dollars) project to breed more than 1,500 Chinese alligators, one of the world's most endangered reptiles. Under the project, the Chinese alligator breeding center in Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, in east China, will expand from its current three hectares to 10 hectares. Established in 1979, the center has bred 355 Chinese alligators since 1984. The project is aimed at boosting the center's alligator population to 2,000 by the year 2005 when the project is completed,said project chief, Professor Fang Shengguo with the Zhejiang University. The project would also ensure the reptiles to learn to survive in the wild, he said. The Chinese alligator is a reptile unique to this country, withmajor habitats in eastern Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. A survey in 2001 showed that the number of Chinese alligators in the wild had fallen to less than 150, from about 300 two decades ago. However, the number of alligators in captivity has risen rapidly in recent years, thanks to artificial breeding methods. A breeding research center in Anhui has bred more than 9,000 Chinese alligators so far, according to an earlier media report.

Show your support to save the real dragon! While your at it visit the homepage of the Chinese Alligator fund at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/alligatorfund/