A nature reserve in Xuancheng City of east China's Anhui Province is moving Yangtze alligators to warm rooms to aid their brumation during winter.
The Yangtze alligator, also known as Chinese alligator, is a first-class protected animal endemic to China. The species lives along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the longest waterway in the country.
They begin brumating in late November or early December and remain in dens until March.
"We begin moving the Yangtze alligators to their overwintering location when the outdoor water temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius," said Yi Pingsi, head of animal management at the nature reserve.
The nature reserve has built warm rooms dedicated for the brumation of Yangtze alligators, with sound barriers installed at the bottom this year to reduce disturbance to brumating alligators during cleaning.
"During transportation, there is also a disinfection and cleaning stage to prevent outdoor microorganisms from entering the rooms. After the Yangtze alligators are moved indoors, we will collect their health data, especially from those under scientific research programs," Yi said.
The Anhui Yangtze alligator national nature reserve was established in 1979. Since its establishment, the reserve has been undertaking the work of artificial breeding, habitat protection, wild release and science popularization education of Yangtze alligators.
The reserve currently boasts more than 10,000 captive-born alligators. It began reintroducing the endangered reptiles into the wild since 2003. At present, there are more than 1,900 wild Yangtze alligators in the nature reserve.