Published: December 5, 2007
CHANGSHA, China: Unnoticed and unappreciated for five decades, a large female turtle with a stained, leathery shell is now a precious commodity in this city's decaying zoo. She is fed a special diet of raw meat. Her small pool has been encased with bulletproof glass. A surveillance camera monitors her movements. A guard is posted at night.
The agenda is simple: The turtle must not die.
Appreciated at last: The last female giant Yangtze soft-shell turtle on the planet. (Du Bin for The New York Times)
Earlier this year, scientists concluded that she is the planet's last known female giant Yangtze soft-shell turtle. She is about 80. As it happens, the planet also has only one undisputed, known male. He lives at a zoo in the city of Suzhou. He is about 100. They are the last hope of saving a species believed to be the largest freshwater turtles in the world...
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