Hunting rare alligators in the darkness

    Updated: 2013-09-01 08:13

    By Wu Ni in Shanghai(China Daily)

      Print Mail Large Medium  Small

    Shanghai's Dongtan Wetland Park is recruiting volunteers to row around a lake at night in search of one of the world's most endangered animals - Yangtze alligators.

    The annual event was staged twice in August, and will run again on Sept 7 and 14.

    "It's amazing," engineer Wei Changqing says. The 37-year-old from Shanghai hit the lake on Aug 9.

    Four boats with four passengers apiece set off through the reedy marsh at 8 pm to locate and photograph the alligators introduced to the park in 2007.

    Everyone had a job. Wei and a partner paddled, another passenger held the flashlight and the fourth snapped photos.

    Hunting rare alligators in the darkness

    "The alligators leave only their eyes above the water to observe their surroundings, and their red eyes glowed in the flashlight beams," Wei recalls.

    "When we found a pair of eyes, we silently moved in."

    The animals' size can be determined by the distance between their eyes. They can grow up to 2 meters long.

    Wei's team found three adults and three juveniles.

    "Adults are very alert and slipped away before we could get close, no matter how quiet we were," he says.

    He was thrilled to see a young alligator stretch its head out of the water.

    "It wasn't scared, perhaps because it's too young," he says.

    "So we got a lot of photos."

    Team leader Cheng Yixin says the creatures dig burrows, build nests and lay eggs on an island in the middle of a 6-hectare lake.

    Cheng insists the trips are safe.

    "We don't get off the boat," she says.

    "And Yangtze alligators don't attack humans."

    The creatures hibernate from October until April.

    The species is broadly scattered around the Yangtze River's middle and lower reaches. Expanding farmlands have confined their wild population - determined to be fewer than 120 in 2003 - to a few ponds and lakes.

    Captive-bred Yangtze alligators are being released into the wild in such places as Dongtan, where most of the six alligators - three from the United States and three from Zhejiang province - released have survived and bred.

    More than 100 visitors have joined the annual alligator-spotting trip. Sept 7 will be the first time minors can join.

    "It's a good opportunity to observe rare species in the wild," Cheng says.

    "We hope participants will do more for the environment."

    wuni@chinadaily.com.cn

    Hunting rare alligators in the darkness

    (China Daily 09/01/2013 page15)

    最好看的中文字幕2019免费| 亚洲AV无码国产在丝袜线观看| 国内精品无码一区二区三区 | 精品久久久久久无码人妻蜜桃| 国产区精品一区二区不卡中文| 东京热人妻无码一区二区av| 伊人久久无码精品中文字幕 | 一本加勒比hezyo无码专区| 中文字幕亚洲综合小综合在线| 99精品人妻无码专区在线视频区| 亚洲熟妇无码八V在线播放| 久热中文字幕无码视频| 中文字幕一区二区三区永久| 中文字幕人妻丝袜乱一区三区| 无码乱人伦一区二区亚洲| 中文字幕人妻在线视频不卡乱码| 无码AⅤ精品一区二区三区| 67194成l人在线观看线路无码| 无套中出丰满人妻无码| 日日摸夜夜添无码AVA片| 中文字幕在线免费观看| 久久亚洲中文字幕精品有坂深雪| 免费VA在线观看无码| 精品人妻少妇嫩草AV无码专区 | 99无码熟妇丰满人妻啪啪| 日韩免费无码视频一区二区三区| 国产精品无码专区在线观看| 无码人妻精品一区二区三区东京热| 久久亚洲精品成人无码网站| 久久亚洲精品无码aⅴ大香| 最近最新中文字幕高清免费| 精品久久久无码中文字幕| 一级片无码中文字幕乱伦| 国产成人A亚洲精V品无码| 亚洲人成影院在线无码观看| 亚洲AV无码无限在线观看不卡| 日本无码WWW在线视频观看| 精品无码免费专区毛片| 色AV永久无码影院AV| 中文字幕人妻在线视频不卡乱码 | 中文字幕亚洲无线码|