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IRCFREPTILES&HIBIANS•20(4):172–183•DEC2013
Chinese Alligators: Observations at Changxing Nature Reserve & Breeding Center
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S
Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190
The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198
R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S
The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212
C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T
World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225
H U S B A N D R Y
Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226
P R O F I L E
Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
C O M M E N T A R Y
The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
B O O K R E V I E W
Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.
Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
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IRC
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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
propertiesofalligatormeat,aswellasthespecies’reputationasamenacetolivestock. Thorbjarnarson and Wang (2010) is currently themost expansively detailed English-language source onthe IUCN-listedcritically endangered species (CrocodileSpecialistGroup1996).However,inthepastthreeyears,Thorbjarnarsonpassedaway,andco-authorWangbecamevice-headmasteratEastChinaNormalUniversity(ECNU2013),anadministrativelyheavypositionthatallowshimnotimeforresearch.Consequently,avoidinrelevantscholar-shiphasprecludedanyupdatesontheChineseAlligatorsincethebook’spublication.
MethodsThisreportisderivedfromon-sitefieldwork,interviewswithkeepersandscientists,andmyresearchofrelevantsourcesinChineseduringmyinternshipattheChangxingNatureReserveandBreedingCenterforChineseAlligators(CNRBRCCA)from June through August 2013, under the guidance ofProfessorFangSheng-GuooftheCollegeofLifeSciencesofZhejiangUniversityinHangzhou,ZhejiangProvince,China.ProfessorFangalsoservesasDirectoroftheStateConservationCenterforGeneResourcesofEndangeredWildlife.
ResultsLocal Environment.—Human development (e.g., damsalongtheYangtzeRiver,humanoccupationofwetlands)istheprimarycontributingfactortothedeclineofthewildpopulationof theChineseAlligator; thus, takingnoteofhumanfactorsinreintroductionandcaptivebreedingeffortsisofconsiderableimportance.VariousformsofpollutioncausedbyChineseindustryhaveledtowidespreadhealthandenvironmentalproblems. The environmental conditions at Changxing werenot mentioned by Thorbjarnarson and Wang (2010).CNRBRCCAislocated25kmwestofChangxingCountyinthecityofHuzhou.Duringtheweeksofmyinternship,IobservedthattheskyinChangxingwasmoreoftenthannotcastinsmog.IfurtherlearnedthatChangxinghasseveralpol-lutingindustries:Twohugepowerplantswithexcesspowersoldtoothercitiesandtwoenormousbatteryplants,includ-ingthelargestautobatteryplantinChina.InJune2005,morethan700childrenwerediagnosedwithleadpoisoninginMeishan,atownwithinChangxingCounty,wheretheTiannengbatteryplantislocated.Meishanis35kmnorthofCNRBRCCA(Wang2012).Moreover,RenDabin,headkeeperatCNRBRCCA,revealedthatthelocalChangxingpondssuffer frompesticidepollutionfromnearbyfarms.Rodentcarcassesoftenarefoundintheponds,andalliga-torsthateatthecarcassesoftenarestrickenwithsevereill-nesses,severalofwhichendedindeath.Fortunately,ChineseAlligatorshaveverystrongimmunesystems,andthussuch
Captive Population Statistics.—Thorbjarnarson andWang(2010)reportedthatthecaptivepopulationoftheChineseAlligatoratCNRBRCCA in2007 stoodat300individuals, including the100adultspurchased in2006fromtheXuanchengbreedingcenter,Anhui Research Center of Chinese Alligator Reproduction (ARCCAR)at a costof50,000Yuaneach(FangSheng-Guo,pers.comm.,13June2013).However,accordingtoXu(2005),thepopulationwasreportedtohave459individuals,includingsevenfounders,214F1generationindividuals,and238F2generationindi-viduals.FurthersupportingXu’sassertion,ChangxingNews(2008a)reportedthecaptivepopulationoftheChinesealliga-torat700+individuals,including175bredin2007and85in2006.Inthepastfewyears,thepopulationhasincreasedsubstantially.PRC(2013)reportedthatthecurrentpopula-tioncountofcaptiveindividualsatCNRBRCCAwas3,923alligators,including2,089young(1–3yearsold),1,568juve-niles(4–12yearsold),and248adults(13+yearsold).
Nesting/Ovipostioning.—AsofAugust2013,600+eggsfrom24nestswereproducedduringthecaptiveChineseAlligator breeding season. The exact number cannot be
Despitetherelativetemperaturestabilityofthenestsdur-ingthesummermatingandhatchingseason,outsidecondi-tionscanhaveasubstantiveeffectonsexdetermination.5August2013markedthethirty-fourthdayofhightempera-turesinHangzhou,China(120kmsouthofChangxing),witharecord-setting40.4°Con24July(China.com2013).Similarly high temperatures produced more males thanfemalesinthesummerof2012;thesamemayapplyforthe2013hatchingseason.
Rearing the Young.—YoungChineseAlligatorsbegintofeedattwoweeksofage.Priortothattime,remnantsoftheyolksacvisibleonthehatchlings’bellies(Fig.7)serveasthemainsourceofnourishment.Analligatorhatchlingmustdigestalloftheyolkremaininginitsbody.Feedingahatchlingprematurelycancausedigestivedifficultiesandinduration.Althoughfeedingdoesoftencommenceafter14days,waiting18–20daysisadvisedforidealresults(FangSheng-Guo,pers.comm.,13June2013). PondsatCNRBRCCAarepopulatedwithyoungalliga-torsofsimilarsizesandages.Forexample,onepondcontainsone-year-oldalligatorswhileanothercontainseight-year-oldalligators.Veryyoungalligatorsareparticularlydocileandsensitivetonoise,quicklydashingintothewaterassoonastheyhearhumansapproaching. At CNRBRCCA, alligators one year or younger aremovedtoheatedroomsduringthewinter.Olderalligatorsremainintheponds.AtARCCAR,thehatchlingsstayinheatedroomsinthewinteralongwitholderanimals;AnhuiNews(2008)reportedthat8,000animalswerekeptinasmallheatedroomwithasmallpond(3m2and80cmdeep)forthewinter.
2008 report.Twenty-fivehectaresweredesignated as anexperimental“wild”zonewherealligatorswouldbereleased(Fig.8).InApril2012,120individualsthathadhatchedin2003through2005werereleasedintothefenced“wild”zone(XinhuaNews2012).InJuly2013,140alligatorshatchedin2006through2007werereleased(YangHai-Qiong,pers.comm.,20August2013).Morefemalesthanmaleswerereleasedandafewreleasedanimalswereblind,thelatterpos-siblycausedbytheinbreedinginherentinpopulationswithlownumbersoffounders.
Inbreeding Depression.—As a result of the ChineseAlligator’slowgeneticdiversityandfewfoundingmembers,theforcedmatingofcloserelativeshascausedinbreedingdepression,therebyreducingfertilityandincreasingmortal-ityandtherateofdeformities.Thelatterincludekyphosis,S-shapedbodies,curvedtails,sideways-pointingtails,blind-ness,orbeingbornwithouteyes.Keeperspreventindividualswithdeformitiesfrombreeding.Theseindividualsareisolatedintheirownpens,wheretheyarefedregularly,assomecan-
notswim.DeformitiescausedbyinbreedingdepressionweresevereatCNRBRCCA,buthavedecreasedfrom10%to0.25%afterthekeeperscarefullymatchedthealligatorsthatwereseveralgenerationsaparttomaximizegeneticvariance(FangSheng-Guo,pers.comm.,13June2013). Thorbjarnarson emphasized that futurework shouldfocusongeneticscreeningofalladultanimalsinARCCARandCNRBRCCAandshouldincludethedevelopmentofabreedingprogramtomaximizegeneticdiversityofprogeny(ThorbjarnarsonandWang2010).IntheUnitedStates,theAssociationofZoosandAquariums(AZA)hasdevelopedaSpeciesSurvivalPlan(SSP)pertainingtoendangeredspeciesthatadvisesontechniquesformanagingbreedingandreintro-ductionefforts.Individualsaretransportedamongnetworksofzoosforbreedingaccordingtoamasterplandevelopedtominimizethelossofgeneticdiversity(ThorbjarnarsonandWang2010). NomasterplanfortheChineseAlligatoriscurrentlyavailable,nordoesastudbookcomprehensivelydocumentandmake available informationon the variousbreedingeffortsinChina.Infact,ARCCARandCNRBRCCAoper-ateasseparateentities;theymustengageinjointbreedingeffortstomaximizegeneticvariationandshareanydataorresourcespertainingtotheirownpopulations.
opportunitytostudyChineseAlligatorsattheCNRBRCCA.ManythanksgotoZhejiangUniversitygraduatestudent,YangHai-Qiong,andheadkeeper,RenDabin, for theirvaluableinsightsandmentorship.IalsothankCarlMaofTheBransonSchool,myadvisorandteacherofBiologyandBiotechnology,forhisadviceonthisreport.
Anhui News. 2008. Xuancheng Chinese Alligator state nature reserve was‘infested with alligators’ (in Chinese). <http://ah.anhuinews.com/sys-tem/2012/11/30/005339657.shtml>.
Anhui News. 2010. The sixth implementation of reintroduction of ChineseAlligators this year in China (in Chinese). <www.ah.xinhuanet.com/news/2010-06/18/content_20104432.htm>.
AnhuiPhotographers’Net.2009.DocumentaryontheceremonyofthefourthreintroductionattheGaojingmiaoReintroductionBaseofAnhuiChineseAlligator Reserve (in Chinese). http://jiaoliu.ahsyj.com/viewthread/php?tid=54757>.
Changxing News. 2008a. The alligator keepers in “Chinese Alligator vil-lage” ( in Chinese). <http://cxnews.zjol .com.cn/cxnews/sys-tem/2008/05/15/010459582.shtml>.
Thorbjarnarson,J.andX.Wang.2010.The Chinese Alligator: Ecology, Behavior, Conservation, and Culture. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore,Maryland.
Wang, F. 2012. New regulations to shake up battery industry. <www.ecns.cn/2012/07-16/19630.shtml>.