SUZHOU, China — She’s about 80 years old. He’s 100. Breathless scientists watched as the world’s most endangered turtles mated.
But the attempt to breed the species’ last known female with the last known male in China has failed because the eggs didn’t hatch, conservationists said Saturday.
The elderly pair can try again next year.
Just four known Yangtze giant soft-shell turtles, three of them male, are left. The only female was found in a Chinese zoo just last year after a long and desperate search. She was quickly protected with a surveillance camera, a guard and bulletproof glass and given the name China Girl.
Pollution and hunting almost erased the Yangtze turtles.
Conservationists were thrilled this spring when the female and male were finally introduced, nudged each other curiously and got down to business. Artificial insemination was deemed too risky.
Within weeks, dozens of eggs were found in the sandy nesting area at the Suzhou Zoo, about an hour’s drive west of Shanghai. Conservationists predicted possible hatchlings by early August. But last week, they said the effort had failed.
While more than half the eggs seemed fertile, the embryos died early, said a statement released Wednesday by the U.S.-based Turtle Survival Alliance.
The statement did not indicate whether the female turtle’s age was a factor and instead blamed years of a low-calcium diet.
"A number of the eggs had very thin or cracked eggshells, suggesting that the diet of the animals prior to breeding was not optimal," it said.
Besides the pair that mated, the only known Yangtze turtles are two males in Vietnam.
The Chinese pair are preparing for another attempt next year with a high-calcium diet of whole fish, whole crayfish and chicken necks, which is meant to result in eggs with stronger shells.
Though it isn’t clear how long Yangtze turtles can live, the female’s fertility is the key. Conservationists had been relieved when the newly discovered female at 80 years or more was still producing eggs.
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