HANGZHOU -- Ten captive-bred Chinese alligators started Wednesday wilderness training in their new home in a semi-wild zone of a nature reserve in East China's Zhejiang province, before being released into in the wild.

The alligators, three males and seven females, were selected as having the best physical conditions and genes. Each alligator has a chip implanted to track their location.

Endemic to China, Chinese alligators, also known as Yangtze alligators, were listed as a national first-class protected species in 1972. They live along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The species has been threatened by human activity and shrinking habitats over the past decades.

In 1988, a nature reserve was established in Zhejiang's Changxing county, a major habitat for the alligators, to protect the endangered animal. In 2002 and 2006 respectively, the Chinese Academy of Forestry invested a total of 60 million yuan (about $9 million) to enrich the gene pool and carry out wilderness training.

Currently, there are more than 6,000 Chinese alligators in the reserve, and over 600 have been trained in the semi-wild zone since the pilot training program began in 2012.

The released alligators have adapted well and since 2014, have begun to reproduce.