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Rare Soft-Shell Turtle Discovered in Vietnam

Posted on: Friday, 18 April 2008, 00:00 CDT

Researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have discovered a rare giant soft-shell turtle in northern Vietnam. The Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle was previously thought to be extinct in the wild.

Doug Hendrie, the Vietnam-based coordinator of the program, said the find represents hope for the species.    

Expert’s from the Zoo’s Asian turtle program told the Associated Press three other turtles of the species area currently in captivity. Two are in Chinese zoos and the other resides in the Hoan Kiem ("Returned Sword") Lake in downtown Hanoi.

Peter Pritchard, an expert in turtles and president of the Chelonian Research Institute, confirmed Hendrie’s the find based on a photograph.

"It looked like pretty solid evidence. The animal has a pretty distinctive head," Pritchard said.

For years there had been rumors of a mysterious creature living among the waters of a lake in the northern part of the country . Some Vietnamese even claimed to be blessed by catching a peek of the animal as it crested above the lake’s surface.

An old Vietnamese legend describes a giant golden turtle that conferred a magic sword and victory upon the Vietnamese people over their Chinese invaders during the 16th century. It is now a matter of cultural debate whether that sacred turtle has materialized in the current find.

"This is one of those mythical species that people always talked about but no one ever saw," Geoff Hall, the zoo’s general curator, told the Associated Press.

Pritchard said he believes an amateur photograph of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle in southern China about six months ago was genuine.

"It's on the very brink of extinction, so every one counts," Pritchard said.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo began implementing a strategy to preserve and protect Asian turtles in 2003, after reports of increased killings for food or use of the turtle’s bones to make traditional medicine. Zoo officials said pollution and development had also led to loss of the turtle’s nesting habitats along rivers. Since 2000, the zoo has invested more than $275,000 into Asian turtle conservation efforts and has supported Hendrie since 2003.

For three years, Hendrie’s team, along with scientists from Education for Nature-Vietnam, had searched lakes and wetlands along the Red River before hearing about the creature living outside Hanoi.   

For now, Hendrie said the researchers have notified the Vietnamese government of the turtle’s discovery, and it remains in the lake.

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Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports

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