Protected by the Chinese Government. There are alligator-rearing centres in Anhui and outside China. Scattered populations in the Atlantic Coastal Forests of Brazil, mainly in fertile hilly areas. A timber tree, prized for expensive furniture, musical instruments and crafts. It grows 15-25 metres high, with a thin trunk of 0.3 to 0.4 metres in diameter.
Few stands remain.
National law protects Brazil's Atlantic Coastal Forest but no domestic plantations exist to satisfy market demands. This pig-like mammal can be identified by tusks that turn upward towards the forehead. An omnivore and social animal, it inhabits river banks and ponds with abundant water plants in tropicalrainforest. Habitat destruction from logging activity and hunting by locals for food. Legally protected since 1931, but enforcement has been ineffective.