HEFEI, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China Tuesday exported three Chinese alligators bred in captivity to Japan, according to a local alligator breeding center.

After passing quarantine checks, the three adult alligators, one male and two female, left the breeding center in Xuancheng, east China's Anhui Province, Tuesday afternoon for a Japanese zoo.

The alligators, which range from 1.6 to 1.9 meters in length, have lived at the center for nearly 10 years.

China listed the Chinese alligator, also known as the Yangtze alligator, as a first-class protected animal in 1972. The species is endemic to eastern China and is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a population of only about 150 in the wild.

Anhui succeeded in breeding the alligators in 1982 and currently there are about 15,000 Chinese alligators living in captivity.

China allowed trade of captive-bred alligators in the early 1990s.

In November last year, four Chinese alligators from the center were exported to Japan.