Asian Giant Salamanders endangered from native practice and the need for more urban areas !

First I would like to describe this ancient creature for those unaware how awesome this magnificent creature is.
These are huge amphibians! Very prehistoric looking. Here in America, we have a giant salamander called the hellbender. But the Asian species if by far the largest of them all.

Here is a Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus)


And here is a Japanese species (Andrias japonicus)


Here is the description from wikipedia:

The hellbender and Asian giant salamanders (family Cryptobranchidae) are aquatic amphibians found in brooks and ponds in the United States, China, and Japan. They are the largest living amphibians known today. The Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus), for example, reaches up to 1.44 metres (4.7 ft), feeds on fish and crustaceans, and has been known to live for more than 50 years in captivity.[1] The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) can reach a length of 1.8 metres (5.9 ft).[2]

Cryptobranchids are large, corpulent salamanders, with large folds of skin along their flanks. These help increase the animal's surface area, allowing them to absorb more oxygen from the water. They have four toes on the forelimbs, and five on the hind limbs. Their metamorphosis from the larval stage is incomplete, so that the adults retain gill slits (although they also have lungs), and lack eyelids. They can reach a static size of 2 meters (6 feet 6 inches) in length. Chinese Giant Salamanders have lived as long as 75 years in captivity. The Chinese giant salamander eats aquatic insects, fish, frogs and also crabs and shrimps.

They hunt mainly at night, and as they have poor eyesight, they use sensory nodes on their head and body to detect minute changes in water pressure, allowing them to detect their prey.[3]

en.wikipedia.org...

Heres a vid of a Chinese species just slithering along


Heres another kool slithering one :www.youtube.com...

And heres one of the Japanese from nat-geo. And a little history of these creatures.


Wow, I think this definitely makes them kool... wouldnt you say? How many of you used to catch little salimanders as a child? I know I did. And would love to see these giant ones in real life up front, no?

Now I would like to get in to how these are being used for medicine and would never reach their full length of 6 feet and instead only reach 3.5 feet max in the wild but can get full length in captivity. This is because they are considered a delicacy, and their body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines. They were recognized as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1976, and are fully protected in China.

With the spread of urban areas and the need for more land this animal will more than likely be only found in captivity. Alot of asian animals are becaoming more scarce. I really believe this entire planet is still prehistoric in nature than most will think.

I am an exotic animal lover by heart, how bout you?

If you would like to share your thoughts on these kool creatures or any other info I havent listed that will be kool.?

I love the pics and love finding out about interesting critters! Reminds me of Mexico's axolotl, the only amphibian I've seen smile. But I'm confused about your title. Why do we need more urban areas?

reply to post by Mossflower


Im sorry, that is why they are endangered because of more uban areas being built and they are being used for medicine




fixed title

Looks like a Pokemon or seomthing out of an RPG game.

reply to post by mr10k




Now that was funny, but true. They do kind of, huh...

i love salamanders their so cute when their small, but these guys are huge but still cute and should be preserved not eaten or killed ...


good find ,, star and flag for you.

reply to post by alysha.angel


Yeah, these are too small or is it big?? for being a pocket pet
It is sad how some countries are still practicing primitive ways and killing all these ancient creatures

Thank you for the reply