Despite being embedded in Chinese myth and folklore, with the iconic yin and yang symbols for opposites supposedly representing two salamanders entwined, the 6ft-long amphibian is now so desired by epicures that its 170 million history is in peril.

Four years of research across 97 known Chinese strongholds show how the striking muddy brown salamander – affectionately known as “wa wa yu” or baby fish as their distress calls are said to sound like a crying child – has all but vanished from its freshwater haunts.

Although the Chinese authorities prohibit the hunting of the salamander – scientific name Andrias davidianus – the country’s ministry of agriculture allows the widespread release of farmed animals to aid its conservation.

This practice, warn conservationists, may be harmful to wild populations as it risks spreading disease and mixing genetic lineages.