我国扬子鳄种群及栖息地保护现状

扬子鳄(Alligator sinensis)是我国特有的古老而珍稀的爬行动物,现阶段野生扬子鳄的分布区域进一步萎缩,成为彼此孤立的点状,残存栖息地的生态环境趋于恶化,野生鳄数量估计为120～150条,老年化程度高。扬子鳄的保护管理依据现实状况及时加以调整,加大了野外保护力度,逐步改善野生鳄的栖息生境,实施野外放归工程,初步遏制了野生鳄数量迅速下滑的局面。人工饲养种群数量已逾10 000条,当前人工饲养繁殖的重点是管理好有限的遗传多样性资源。扬子鳄的研究主要涉及形态学、解剖学、组织胚胎学、生态学、生理生化、细胞及分子生物学,人工饲养繁殖技术等方面。营养生理和保护遗传学的应用研究有待加强。

Present Status of Protection on Chinese Alligator’s Population and Habitat

Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is an old, rare and endemic reptile in China. The distribution range of alligators decreased and the wild population is locally isolated in the degenerative habitat. The wild population was estimated at 120-150 with a higher proportion of aged individuals. More efforts have been put into protection for the isolated populations and their habitat in the wild recently. The habitat of wild alligator has become better, captive alligators have been reintroducted to wild populations. Those management approaches has preliminarily stopped the decline of population size in the wild. In addition, the captive populations have reached to more than 10 000 and genetic control on captive population has been initiated. Most researches conducted on Chinese alligator are on morphology, anatomy, embryology, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, captive breeding techniques. However, in the field of nutritional physiology, and genetic conservation, people has not made enough efforts yet.