The construction of a Chinese eco-tourism zone is believed to have triggered the death of 6,000 critically endangered Chinese sturgeon in Hubei province.
A bridge in Hubei province was being built close to a farm on the Yangtze river, which was breeding the long-living fish.
According to reports from Chinese news sites, the deaths were "directly linked to the shocks, noises and changes of water sources".
After the death of the sturgeon, all work has been halted while investigations are carried out.
Chinese Sturgeon Species
The Chinese sturgeon species started back more than 140 million years. Individual fish can grow to up to 5m (16ft) in length and can live for up to 60 years, but will only spawn a few times during their life.
However, the species is on the brink of extinction in the wild because of pollution, overfishing - for their meat and roe, sold as caviar - and environmental changes like the vast hydroelectric dams which span the Yangtze, blocking access to their spawning sites.
Meanwhile, as a way to protect the sturgeons, China has launched a breeding program in the 1970s to save the species and there are now thought to be about 1,000 adult fish in the country.
In addition, the Hengshang aquafarm near Jingzhou was a vital part of that program.
However, since the start of the year, more than 6,000 baby sturgeon have been reported dead there along with 36 fish aged 20 years or more.
Chinese Sturgeons
The fish are known to be highly sensitive to noise and disruption and news site thepaper.cn quoted officials at the farm as saying the fish had been in great distress, caused by the nearby construction. The sturgeons have been occasionally leaping out of the water.
According to Chinese news site Thepaper.cn, fisheries scientists said that the adults that died had been "extremely precious" as they were directly descended from wild sturgeon.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs hurled an investigation and found that the construction of the bridge had intruded illegally on a nature reserve, China Daily reported.
It quoted a ministry official as saying that anyone found responsible would be held accountable under the fisheries law.
