A species of turtle is one step closer to final extinction after the death of a female in a zoo in eastern China, a day after a failed attempt at artificial insemination, Chinese media reported.
The soft-shelled turtle of the Yangtze River already has only three known specimens in the world after the death of a female of at least 90 years old in the zoo in Suzhou city, in the Shanghai region, according to the newspaper Suzhou.
The animal died a day after the zoo subjected it to an operation considered as the last chance to save the species, inseminating it with the seed of a male from the same zoo that exceeds one hundred years old.
The female will be autopsied to find out what happened, according to the newspaper.
In addition to the mentioned male, there are two known specimens that live in freedom in Vietnam but their sex is unknown.
The Yangtze turtle, the largest freshwater turtle, can reach a meter in length and weigh more than 100 kilos.
The reptile, whose habitat stretched along the Yangtze River, the longest in Asia, and other Chinese rivers, has been the victim of hunting, pollution, river traffic and the proliferation of dams.