{"id":2378,"date":"2010-07-29T12:21:52","date_gmt":"2010-07-29T12:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seangallagher.wpengine.com\/blog\/?p=2378"},"modified":"2010-07-29T12:21:52","modified_gmt":"2010-07-29T12:21:52","slug":"the-chinese-alligator-a-species-on-the-brink-i-pulitzer-center-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallagher-photo.com\/the-chinese-alligator-a-species-on-the-brink-i-pulitzer-center-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chinese Alligator, A Species On The Brink \u2013 I \u2013 Pulitzer Center #3"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CHINA. A Chinese Alligator. 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE <\/strong>PULITZER CENTER<\/strong><\/a>, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week I travel to the province of Anhui, situated in the Yangtze River basin west of Shanghai. I travel to this region to begin the chapter of my work on the effects of wetland disappearance on animal species in China.<\/p>\n

As way of introduction to this chapter, I recently interviewed Joe Abene, a long-time alligator researcher who worked for the Bronx Zoo in New York for many years and is an expert on the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis), a species which is on the brink of extinction in the wild.<\/p>\n

This first post serves as an introduction to the plight of the Chinese alligator. Later this week, I travel to the Anhui Research Center of Chinese Alligator Reproduction to report on the work being done there to save the species.<\/p>\n

How and when did you originally become involved in the plight of the Chinese Alligator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My love of Chinese\/Yangtze alligators started at the Bronx zoo, where I worked in the reptile house for 15 years. The curator, John Behler, and the previous supervisor, Peter Brazaitis, had already been trail blazers in crocodilian conservation and Chinese alligators were a species they showed special interest in. By the time I started working at the zoo, the staff there had already been instrumental in the first captive breeding of the species in the USA. During my time at the zoo, I participated in the care of a large group of captive Yangtze alligators. Mr. Behler was the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan coordinator for the species, and when he passed away, I took over the position.<\/p>\n

Along with managing the captive populations in the US, I started to get involved in fieldwork. I had a strong interest in Chinese history and culture, so working in China was something I had always wanted to do anyway. In 2007, I was invited to a meeting in Shanghai concerning Yangtze alligator conservation. It was decided at the meeting that a thorough survey of the wild population was needed. I returned to China a few months later to conduct the survey with Dr Zhang and officials from the Anhui Research Center of Chinese Alligator Reproduction. We have continued that work since then and I will be back in China in August.<\/p>\n

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