A Dying Turtle Breed Points to a Battered 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.

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.