The two largest breeding centers for the Chinese alligator are in, or near, the areas where Chinese alligators are still found in the wild. The Anhui Research Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction (ARCCAR) is the largest of them, housing roughly 15,000 Chinese alligators as of 2016. The center is from the city of Xuancheng, where it makes use of a series of ponds in a small valley. Founded in 1979, the ARCCAR was stocked with 212 alligators collected from the wild over the first decade after its establishment, and received alligator eggs collected by the area's residents and the ARCCAR's own staff from the nests of wild alligators as well. In 1988, the first eggs by human-bred alligators were laid. The reserve decided to reintroduce some of its alligators in the wild in 2001, which was carried out in 2003 when three alligators were released. The alligator breeding was so successful that the ARCCAR began to use the alligators for local meat consumption and live animals for the European pet market, with the profits from these activities continuing to fund the breeding centers.