CBC: An Iranian-Canadian academic and environmental activist imprisoned by Iranian authorities last month has died in prison, his son wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Kavous Seyed-Emami was the managing director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which seeks to protect Iran's rare animals, and a U.S.-trained scholar in sociology.

A member of Seyed-Emami's family, who does not want to be identified, told CBC News late Saturday that the family is "utterly shocked and devastated" at his death and calls for the Canadian government to demand that Iran allow an independent autopsy to be performed.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs said "Canada takes its consular responsibilities ‎very seriously."

"Canadian consular officials in Ankara are working to gather additional information and are providing assistance to the family of the Canadian citizen," Natasha Nystrom told CBC News in an emailed statement.

The family member said Seyed-Emami was a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen who was last in Canada on a sabbatical at the University of Lethbridge in late 2017.

Seyed-Emami was "not a political person," the family member said, and worked at an elite Tehran university renowned for training the country's career diplomats.

In Iran, he was known for instilling a love of nature in his students and started a hiking group to encourage them to experience the outdoors, the family member said >>>