How a Pyramid Scheme Doomed the World’s Largest Amphibians

Sounds click-baitey but is actually (IMHO) pretty interesting (and kinda sad and crazy.)

> From 2004 onward, the number of farms grew rapidly. The government encouraged them as a way of boosting the fortunes of otherwise poor rural areas. Official licenses were issued, but many farms ran illicitly. By 2011, they held around 2.6 million salamanders between them. In some counties, salamander farming became the main industry.

> Bizarrely, only 3 percent of the animals raised by the farms are eventually sold to restaurants. The rest are sold to more start-up farms.