This bizarre animal is a type of newt, the Chinese giant salamander. In China, it is known as the baby fish because when distressed, it makes a sound like a crying infant.

 

It grows up to a meter and a half long, making it the world's largest amphibian. Under natural conditions, a giant salamander may live for decades, but like so many Chinese animals, it is considered delicious to eat.

 

Despite being classed as a protected species, giant salamanders are still illegally sold for food, and the baby fish is now rare and endangered in the wild. Fortunately, in a few areas like Zhangjiajie, giant salamanders still survive under strict official protection.

 

The rivers of Zhangjiajie flow northeast into the Yangtze flood plain, known as the land of fish and rice. On an island, in a lake, in Anhui Province, a dragon is stirring.

 

This is the ancestral home of China's largest and rarest reptiles, a creature of mystery and legend.

 

Dragon eggs are greatly prized. These babies need to hatch out quick. It was seen someone is on their trail. For a helpless baby reptile, imprisoned in a leathery membrane inside a chalky shell, a process of hatching is a titanic struggle, and time is running out. It's taken two hours for the little dragon to get its head out of the egg. It needs to gather its strength now for one final massive push.

 

Free at last, the baby Chinese alligators instinctively head upwards towards the surface of the nest and the outside world.