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  Channel NewsAsia 29 Dec 05
Chinese naturalists in Hunan work hard to protect the salamander
By Channel NewsAsia's China Correspondent Ca-Mie De Souza

Efforts to save the endangered Giant Panda are well known around China and even further afield.

But in one Chinese province, Hunan, naturalists have also been working hard to protect the much smaller salamander.

Slippery to the touch, this four-legged reptile thrives in a clean environment like an unpolluted mountain stream. Salamanders have been around since the time dinosaurs walked the earth. They are considered a living fossil and some scholars even say the shape of the salamander resembles the Chinese mythological animal - the dragon.

The Salamander Protection Centre in Zhangjiajie has reared some 120 salamanders which they feel are now ready to return to the wild. This centre was set up to save the salamander from extinction. Salamanders rescued from poachers and illegal traders are housed in a replica of their natural habitat and put on breeding programmes.

The creature is protected under the Wildlife Protection Law and those found eating wild salamanders can be jailed for up to 3 years.

Considered a delicacy, buyers are prepared to pay more than 500 US dollars for a kilogramme of the reptile's meat. Apart from diners and poachers, the salamander's survival is also threatened by growing pollution.

In China, the highest community of this reptile can now be found in Zhangjiajie, northwestern Hunan where conservation efforts are most intense. But even there, their numbers have fallen by 15 percent in the last three decades.

Zhuo Junhua, Head, Giant Salamander Breeding and Protection Centre, said: "Due to the destruction of the environment, if you don't step up protection of the salamander, it will become extinct. The reptile has important medicinal value."

The Chinese turn to salamanders to treat burns and epilepsy, and even to prevent and fight cancer.

To drive home the critical need to save the salamander, Zhangjiajie has adopted the creature as its mascot. But it's a race against time to ensure the reptile doesn't become another fossil in history. - CNA/ch
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