Status: Critically Endangered (likely to become extinct in near future if threats continue)

Range and Habitat: Lower Yangtze River (central China)

Habitat loss is the chief cause of the Chinese alligator's decline, although historically they have suffered from poaching for their hides and parts.

Adult Chinese alligators are 4 feet (1.2 m). Females lay 10-40 eggs, which hatch in about 70 days. Offspring are beautifully striped.

Perhaps the most endangered member of the alligator family, the Chinese alligator is limited to a small stretch of the the Yangtze River and some of its tributaries. The largest remaining population in the wild may consist of no more than 300 animals.

The Species Survival Plan for Chinese alligators, administered by the Wildlife Conservation Park/Bronx Zoo since 1982, was one of the earliest reptile SSPs. By 1993, nearly 150 specimens -- the offspring of just 7 wild-caught founders -- were doing well in the 14 North American facilities to which they had been sent. Sanctuaries and breeding programs for the alligator have also been established in China, and reintroduction schemes are now being explored.