Yunnan Box Turtle

The Yunnan box turtle is believed to be endemic to Yunnan, China (in Kunming and Huize), at elevations above 1,800m. It was suspected to be extinct from the early twentieth century, and the last verified specimen was collected in 1940 (The Reptile Database; Wikipedia, general species account).

In 2004 a living female appeared in the pet trade in Kunming, followed by a male a year later and another female the year after. Some believed they were deliberate hybrids, but in 2007 genetic work on the three animals showed they were true Cuora yunnanensis. In 2008 Kadoorie Conservation China, with the Kunming Institute of Zoology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found a small wild population. Its distribution remains unclear. (Wikipedia, general species account)