Abstract
AbstractThe Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus is endemic to China and is Critically Endangered, largely because of overexploitation for food. This species is an expensive delicacy in China, and a rapidly growing industry to farm the species has developed throughout much of the country, centred on the Qinling Mountain region of Shaanxi Province. During a 2010 workshop on Chinese giant salamander conservation, which involved a range of stakeholders from across China, it became clear that the conservation community knew little about the salamander farming industry and whether it posed actual or potential threats or opportunities for conservation of the Chinese giant salamander. We therefore conducted a series of investigations to understand the industry better. Our results indicate that although farming of Chinese giant salamanders has the potential to be a positive development for conservation by supplying market demand with farmed animals, it is currently more likely to threaten than support conservation of the species, with continued overexploitation and the potential added impacts of infectious disease and genetic pollution arising from farming practices such as movement of animals across the country and the release of untreated farm wastewater and farmed salamanders to the wild.
Highlights
The Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus, the largest amphibian, is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, ) and has been listed in Appendix I of CITES since (CITES, )
Through analysis of records held by the Shaanxi Provincial Fisheries Office and a series of farm visits, questionnaires and focus groups we documented a large and growing Chinese giant salamander farming industry in Shaanxi Province and identified a range of farming practices and conservation threats
Still in its infancy the farming industry has become an important way for local governments in Shaanxi Province to help improve the economic conditions and livelihoods of residents, the rural poor
Summary
The Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus, the largest amphibian, is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, ) and has been listed in Appendix I of CITES since (CITES, ). Endemic to China and occupying a range that encompasses mountain tributaries of the Pearl, Yellow and Yangtze Rivers across provinces, wild Chinese giant salamanders have experienced a severe range-wide decline since the s (Wang et al, ), being threatened primarily by overexploitation for food, habitat loss and pollution (Wang et al, ; IUCN, ). As it is found at high altitudes this species is potentially vulnerable to climate change (IUCN, ).
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