China's national forestry authority has approved a 10-million yuan (US$1.2 million) project to breed more than 1,500 Chinese alligators, one of the world's most endangered reptiles.

Under the project, the Chinese alligator breeding center in Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, in east China, will expand from its current three hectares to 10 hectares.

Established in 1979, the center has bred 355 Chinese alligatorssince 1984.

The project is aimed at boosting the center's alligator population to 2,000 by the year 2005 when the project is completed, said project chief, Professor Fang Shengguo with the Zhejiang University.

The project would also ensure the reptiles to learn to survive in the wild, he said.

The Chinese alligator is a reptile unique to this country, withmajor habitats in eastern Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

A survey in 2001 showed that the number of Chinese alligators in the wild had fallen to less than 150, from about 300 two decades ago.

However, the number of alligators in captivity has risen rapidly in recent years, thanks to artificial breeding methods.

A breeding research center in Anhui has bred more than 9,000 Chinese alligators so far, according to an earlier media report.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2002)