Throughout the 1960s and \u201870s, hundreds of these animals were imported into Japan as novelty food items and exotic pets. So the story<\/a> goes, the Japanese government attempted to restrict restaurants serving the rare meat in 1973. The trade fizzled out, causing many traders to release the remaining animals from China into the Japanese wilderness.<\/p>\n There are also reports of hundreds of giant salamanders being imported to a private house in Okayama Prefecture, many of which are believed to have escaped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Handfuls survived in this new ecosystem, where they came into contact with a relative from the same genus, the Japanese giant salamander.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scientists have noted how these two species managed to “hit it off” and started hybridizing in Japan’s streams. In a 2024 study<\/a>, researchers collected 68 samples from giant salamanders in the Kamogawa River of Kyoto, as well as several samples from private collections, aquariums, and zoos throughout Japan.<\/p>\n They found that some of these individuals were hybrids of Japanese giant salamander and Chinese giant salamander, created by the two species interbreeding. In some cases, it appears that hybrid offspring also mated with each other or others from the \u201cgenetically pure\u201d populations, creating an even deeper mix of hybridity and gene mixing.<\/p>\n Similar but different: A Japanese Giant Salamander in a mountain river.<\/p>\n Image credit: Martin Voeller\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n Even aside from hybrids, giant salamanders are a taxonomic headache. Back in 2019, scientists confirmed<\/a> that Chinese giant salamanders were, in fact, made up of three different species, with the South China giant salamander being the largest. Then, in 2024, further work revealed they might actually be up to nine different species<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dividing them into more species made their conservation awkward. While protections exist for some recognized species, they do not automatically extend to newly identified ones, many of which still lack official names.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n