Last female of turtle species dies

SHE may have been their last hope, and now she’s gone.

Chinese state media has said that the last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle has died, CNN reported.

She was believed to be more than 90 years old and died 24 hours after researchers had tried to artificially inseminate her. While there were no complications with the process, an autopsy was to be performed.

Before she died, there were only four known Yangtze giant softshell turtles left in the world, the New Yorker reported in December. Now there are three. Two live in the wild in Vietnam, though their sex is unknown.

Yangtze giant softshell turtles are the largest freshwater turtle species, weighing in at about 100kg. They have pig-like snouts and large, smooth shells. The species once flourished in China and Vietnam, but human interference and poaching whittled their numbers to their now disastrous levels, according to National Geographic.

“No turtle is more critically endangered,” said the Wildlife Conservation Society.

CNN, citing local outlet Suzhou Daily, reported that scientists would try to take ovarian tissue samples “for future use”.

The female turtle lived at the Suzhou Zoo with another of the last remaining Yangtze giant softshells, her male partner. They were introduced to each other in 2009, and her arrival at the zoo was greeted with fanfare and hope.

“This is the last chance we have to save this species,” Paul Calle of the Wildlife Conservation Society told PBS at the time.

But the couple was childless – the male’s damaged penis rendered him unable to breed with her. A fight with another male turtle decades ago had caused the mutilation.

The female turtle’s fate comes after a long struggle with infertility. Scientists had tried to artificially inseminate her three times without success, said the New Yorker.

She died without producing offspring, and with her death comes the probable extinction of the species.