April 15 (UPI) -- A rare softshell turtle has moved closer to extinction after the last known female of its kind died over the weekend at a China zoo.
Veterinarians said they tried five times to artificially inseminate the Yangtze giant softshell turtle with sperm from one of the last living males, but were unsuccessful. The "catastrophic loss" means there are now only three more of the turtles left -- a male at the zoo and two in the wild in Vietnam.