Over 1,000 artificially-incubated Chinese alligator eggs will be hatched before mid-September in Xuancheng City, east China's Anhui Province.

The population of wild Chinese alligators is very small. In recent years, the nature reserve has been releasing artificially-bred Chinese alligators into the wild to increase the species' wild population.

When an artificially-bred alligator lays eggs, staff members collect them in a hatching room. By automatically controlling the temperature and humidity, the eggs hatch in 55 days at a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius.

"Humidity control is mainly achieved through moisturizing the nest materials so that the alligator eggs can be hatched under high humidity conditions. The general humidity is close to 95 percent or more," said Zhou Yongkang, director of Scientific Research Office, Anhui Yangtze Alligator National Nature Reserve.

After nearly nine months of feeding, the baby Chinese alligators will be released into the wild from late May to early June next year." 

"Our current survival rate for baby alligators and for 1-year-old alligators can reach 95 percent, which is much higher than it was in the past," said Zhou.

(Cover image is a screenshot)

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