On February 7th, 2119 ... Yang Aisheng, director of the expert committee of Hunan Giant Salamander Protection and Development Association, told the reporter that giant salamander itself is rich in nutrients such as protein, fat, inorganic salts and amino acids, and it is a rare delicacy. Giant salamander climbed onto the hotel table and endangered animals became Chinese food again. Tempted by the market brought by the delicacy of giant salamander, a hotel in Changsha married Hunan Runfu Bioengineering Co., Ltd., the largest giant salamander breeding institution in Hunan, and set up a restaurant. The shark fin soup on the menu was 681 yuan/person, and the red stewed giant salamander sold for 1,341 yuan/kg. This move caused a strong response in Star City.

Precious background comes from endangerment

"As early as 1981s, giant salamander has been purchased as an aquatic resource, which is a traditional export commodity in China. There is a record that one ton of giant salamander (the scientific name of giant salamander) was exchanged for five trucks and 32 tons of wheat." Yang Aisheng, director of the expert committee of Hunan Giant Salamander Protection and Development Association, told reporters that giant salamander itself is rich in nutrients such as protein, fat, inorganic salts and amino acids, and it is a rare delicacy. However, due to the destruction of the natural environment, the living environment of giant salamander is getting worse and worse, and its number is getting less and less, and it is on the verge of extinction. In 1988, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Animals was promulgated, and the giant salamander was listed as a national second-class wild protected animal and was protected by legislation.

Yang Aisheng said that in the past 21 years, under the guidance of the National Protection Law, a franchise license and management regulations have been clearly implemented for the domestication, breeding, fishing, transportation and utilization of giant salamanders, and a law enforcement team has been established to strengthen law enforcement and protection. On the one hand, a series of illegal and criminal acts such as destroying giant salamanders' resources, killing and selling have been severely cracked down. On the other hand, domestication, breeding and legal and rational management are encouraged, and hundreds of them have been certified nationwide, realizing a qualitative change from primitive hunting and utilization to artificial domestication and proliferation of resources and scientific development and utilization.

I wonder if the giant salamander can eat

On the second floor of the hotel, a brown giant salamander is lying in the shallow water of a glass cabinet. Its head is wide and flat, with a pair of small eyes embedded in it, its tail is flat, its limbs are short and its shape is strange.

Many citizens raised questions while watching: "Can giant salamander be eaten after all?"

"At present, two catering institutions in Changsha have been approved to operate and sell giant salamanders that meet certain conditions." Cao Yinghua, director of the Provincial Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau, told reporters.

"According to the national regulations, the second-generation artificial giant salamander must be available for sale, and it is a disabled variety without reproductive ability. Catering institutions must be approved by the Fishery Department of the Provincial Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau, and related links such as domestication, breeding and transportation must also be approved. "

It is understood that a small number of giant salamanders are allowed to be served on the table on the premise of a breakthrough in artificial reproduction of giant salamanders. In 1978, Yang Aisheng, a pioneer of Hunan aquatic experts, first succeeded in the artificial propagation of giant salamander, so Yang Aisheng was praised as "the first person in artificial propagation of giant salamander".

The data from the Provincial Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries show that the artificial breeding of giant salamander has made great progress in the past 21 years. Nearly 111 units in China artificially breed nearly 11111 giant salamander seedlings every year, and the number is increasing rapidly every year. In Hunan, the domesticated number of giant salamander breeding parents in the province has increased from 1,711 in 2111 to 8,111, and more than 12,111 backup parents have been cultivated. The annual breeding of giant salamander larvae has reached more than 21,111 from less than 1,111 in 2111, and the Hunan Giant Salamander Protection and Development Association has been established.

Call for strengthening market supervision

"Scientific development and utilization can promote the artificial breeding of giant salamander. I believe that in the near future, through artificial breeding, the number of giant salamander will continue to increase, and it will eventually step out of the ranks of second-class protected animals." Yang Aisheng said. It is understood that at present, there are four catering institutions in the province that have been approved to operate giant salamander. The giant salamander with smooth skin and tender meat makes more and more people see its shape and taste it.

"Giant salamander is a national second-class wild protected animal, so market supervision should be strengthened to prevent some businesses from bringing wild and normal giant salamander to the table for profiteering!" Yesterday, many citizens expressed a certain degree of concern in an interview.

"Giant salamander must be identified before entering the market from the supply place to see if it belongs to the marketable variety." The Provincial Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Bureau said that it will strengthen supervision and find that the illegal use of giant salamander as raw materials will be severely investigated. Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is a kind of giant salamander, commonly known as giant salamander, which is an amphibian living in fresh water. At present, the earliest fossil in the world was unearthed in Inner Mongolia, China, about 65 million years ago. In 1988, the Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China listed it as a national second-class protected wild animal in China, and it is one of China's national treasures.

Description

The Chinese giant salamander is the largest amphibian, generally about 61-71cm long and weighing about 5-6kg, and the largest one can reach 1.8m long and weigh 31kg. The back is brown with black patches, the abdomen is pale, the head is flat and wide, with paired wart processes, the back of the head has tiny nostrils and eyes, the mouth is big, the body is flat and thick, the tail is short and flat, the limbs are short, the forelimbs are 4 fingers, the hind limbs are 5 toes, and there are webbed between the toes.

It is also called "giant salamander" because it cries like a baby, but it is an amphibian and has nothing to do with fish.

living conditions

Giant salamander lives in clear, low-temperature streams, eats fish and crustaceans, lays eggs at the end of summer and hatches in about 2 to 4 weeks.

At present, there are artificially domesticated giant salamanders in Hunan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places in China. Wild species are extremely rare, mainly found in tributaries of the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Pearl River basins above 1,511 meters above sea level. It has been found in Taiwan Province, but it is believed that it is caused by the introduction of wild individuals.

current situation of conservation

Because the giant salamander has lived for a long time, it is considered to have magical curative effect, so it is expensive, and it is often caught by humans for eating or viewing. In addition, the living environment is destroyed and it is almost extinct. At present, it is illegal to sell wild giant salamander in China, but it is popular in China, Sichuan and Hubei provinces to give gifts. At the end of the 21th century, food was also popular in Taiwan Province, and a large number of them were smuggled from Chinese mainland for ornamental purposes.

In the IUCN Red List, the giant salamander is rated as a critically endangered species, indicating that its wild population is facing a very high chance of extinction. At present, wild populations are mainly faced with overfishing, and the destruction of habitats has also reduced their living space.

Artificial Breeding

Since 1978, Yang Aisheng has successfully propagated the giant salamander. Today, the number of artificially propagated giant salamander in China has reached about million, and the Hunan Giant Salamander Protection and Development Association has been established. It is reported that the artificially domesticated giant salamander will become the food of the general public in two years.

in p>2119, Zhangjiajie giant salamander nature reserve, one of the main habitats of giant salamander, is planning to provide giant salamander to Hong Kong Ocean Park for popular science propaganda and scientific research. Previously, there were two giant salamanders in Hong Kong, which were illegally smuggled into the country in the late 1991s. After being found by the AFCD, they were taken care of by Kadoorie Farm and kept in Ocean Park since 2111.