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Crocodiles make pit stop in Pingtan

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2014-04-15

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Six freshwater crocodiles en route to Guangzhou from a zoo in Taiwan arrived in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, Fujian province, on April 4 for customs procedures.

Crocodiles make pit stop in Pingtan

A crocodile is kept in a wooden case for customs procedures in Pingtan, April 4.

The six reptiles are gharials, or gavials, measuring nearly 5 meters in length and 700 kilograms in weight. They were placed in wooden cases on Haixia, a popular high-speed passenger ferry that regularly sails between Pingtan and Taiwan.

It was the first time that Pingtan’s customs authorities carried out quarantine inspections on crocodiles, according to the local quarantine bureau.

The reptiles were purchased from a Taiwan zoo for about $50,000 each, said a manager from the Guangzhou Changlong Wildlife Park.

Moving the creatures to Guangzhou by way of Pingtan has helped to reduce transportation costs by at least 30 percent compared to flying them out, he added.

The reptiles were transported to Guangzhou later that day, after completing their customs quarantine and inspection.

Background

The false gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial, is a freshwater crocodile with a very thin and elongated snout. It is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as the population is estimated at below 2,500 mature specimens.

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