With a 2-meter Newt, It Is a Delicacy in the Eyes of Poachers, On the Verge of Extinction, Only Breeding Can Save It

The world's strange and bizarre creatures are many, but few are as ugly as the giant salamander.

The giant salamander is a very ancient creature, slow-moving and looking like a prehistoric animal. In fact, it is a living fossil, evolved from aquatic fish from 3.6 million years ago as amphibians.

The giant salamander, perhaps is what people in the past called monsters.

The giant salamander is a large amphibian, the largest can grow to 2 meters, living in caves.

When the giant salamander is in trouble, they emit a sound similar to a baby crying, therefore it is also called a mudpuppy.

Imagine the dark caves, the slippery skin, the round eyes, a mouth that can swallow a cat, plus the sound of a baby crying, all these factors combined, have led people to mistakenly believe it is a monster.

Since the birth of the giant salamander, the giant salamander's appearance has hardly changed, they haven't evolved much with the changes in the environment, which means they have a strong survival and adaptability.

It can breathe with its skin, switching between land and water freely.

As we all know, amphibians are cold-blooded animals, experienced a transformation from tadpoles to adults, very sensitive to environmental changes.

They can also breathe through their skin and absorb moisture, which allows them to live freely in land and water.

In addition to breathing, the skin also secretes a deadly toxin.

Predators, beware, the giant salamander has a trick to deal with enemies.

When threatened, they produce a toxic enzyme and release it through their skin. This enzyme has a significant weakening effect on mammals, including swelling and pain.

If the enzyme concentration is too high, it can even kill a mouse.

Poor eyesight, other senses make up for it.

The giant salamander has a big head, but its eyes are very small and its eyesight is also not good.

However, small eyes are not a problem for the giant salamander. Because it lives in relatively dark caves, it can rely on other senses to navigate and hunt prey.

Its entire body is covered with tactile nodes, greatly enhancing its sense of touch, even able to detect the slightest movement and vibration in water.

They also have a keen sense of smell, which helps them find food.

They are skilled predators, but also beloved delicacies of humans.

The clumsy giant salamander is a successful predator, it hunts various prey, small crustaceans, fish and other amphibians, especially crustaceans and insects are their favorites.

Unfortunately, the giant salamander is already on the verge of extinction in the wild, since the 1950s, its number has decreased by 80%, and in the 21st century, the wild number is less than 50,000,

The main reason is that we treat this ancient creature as a delicacy.

Despite the giant salamander being a national grade two protected animal, under the influence of interests, more and more wild giant salamanders are hunted, and poachers capture giant salamanders and sell their meat at a high price.

To protect this creature and satisfy people's cravings, mudpuppy farming has become a thriving project.

The price was once astonishing, from the original of 400 yuan per kilogram, to 1300 yuan, the highest even reached 2800 yuan per kilogram, now the average price of artificially farmed mudpuppies is 60 yuan/kilogram.

Pollution has also exacerbated the extinction of the giant salamander.

The giant salamander uses its skin to breathe, and this unique skill makes it the first animal to be affected by pollution,

Our country's giant salamander is no exception, their number is greatly affected by the pollution of habitats.

Many poachers use violence and toxic chemicals to catch them, even if it doesn't directly harm their lives, it will damage their food source.

Ironically, when we put artificially farmed giant salamanders back into the wild, we may also bring viruses and bacteria from the farm with us, and these diseases may kill more wild populations.

Finally

The author has never seen an adult mudpuppy, but when I was a child, I often saw small mudpuppies in streams and rivers, and now they are facing extinction.

Although we have taken artificial farming to make up for the population number, this method is not enough to save these animals in the long run.

The only hope for this creature to continue to survive is to raise people's awareness of the miserable situation of the giant salamander.

Fortunately, the latest ban on hunting has come out, which may be a turning point.