A university student in Wuhan returned to a tragic scene in his dormitory, after being away for eight months due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

His pet tortoise had died.

The poor creature had also skeletonised, leaving a grotesque grin on its face.

According to Chinese reports, the student put out food and water for the tortoise before he left Wuhan on Jan. 11.

He had only expected to be away for 40 days, which is the length of his term break.

But Covid-19 hit the city, and Wuhan went into lockdown mode on Jan. 23.

When the student returned on Aug. 31, the pet was discovered dead on the balcony.

Its had dried out due to the amount of time that had passed.

The tortoise, which he bought in 2019, had been his pet for less than half a year.

When the owner picked up the shell, a layer of organic material came off.

The rest of the remains were nestled underneath the shell.

"I've mentally prepared myself for this, as I knew that it wouldn't survive the lockdown," the student said.

He will be keeping the dried tortoise on his desk.

You can watch a video of the incident here:

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Top image via Aimee Pang/YouTube