An endangered female speckled softshell turtle aged¹ in its 90s died on Saturday after being artificially inseminated at a zoo in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

 

苏州某动物园一只90多岁的极度濒危斑鳖经过人工授精后死亡。
 

 

The turtle was given a checkup and found to be in good health before what was the fifth attempt at artificial insemination by international experts and zoo staff. The procedure appeared to go smoothly², however the turtle died the following day.

 

A team including both Chinese and foreign experts will be established to investigate the cause of death. The turtle's ovarian tissue has been collected and stored in liquid nitrogen for future breeding research.

 

The speckled softshell turtle is one of the rarest turtles in the world. Found in Vietnam and China, there are now only three known members of the species remaining.

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