This buddhist temple near Shanghai
这所上海附近的佛庙
has an extraordinary story attached to it
有一段与之相关的传奇故事
In May 2007
2007年5月
A Wild China camera team filmed this peculiar Swinhoe's turtle
一支狂野中国摄制组在这所寺庙的鱼塘里
in the temple's fishpond
拍摄到了这只罕见的斑龟
According to the monks, this turtle had been given to the temple during the Ming dynasty
据寺庙的和尚所说 这只龟在明朝期间被赐予寺庙
over 400 years ago
至今已有400余年历史了
It was thought to be the oldest animal on Earth
它被认为是地球上最老的动物
Soft shell turtles are considerd a god-made delicacy by many Chinese
软壳龟被很多从中国人视为神赐的馈赠
and when it was filmed
在被记录下的时候
this was one of just three Swinhoe's Turtles left alive in China
它已是中国仅存的三只斑龟之一
The rest of its kind
他的同胞们
having been rounded up and eaten
被当作食物剿杀殆尽
Sadly, just a few weeks after filming
悲痛人心的是在拍摄后的短短几周后
this ancient creature died
这只远古的生物与世长辞了
The remaining individuals of its species are currently kept in seperate zoos
他的其他同类现在被散养在不同动物园保护着
and Swinhoe's Turtle is now reckoned extinct in the wild
据测算现在斑龟在自然界中已经灭绝了
In fact, most of the 25 types of fresh water turtles in China
事实上 中国25种淡水龟中
are now vanishingly rare
多数都已然濒危
The answer to extinction
杜绝物种灭绝的唯一途径
is protection
就是加以保护
And there is now a growing network of nature reserves through southern China
这里有贯穿中国南方的不断壮大的自然保护区网络