The Rarest Turtle In The World Is Symbolic In Vietnam, And There Are Only Two Known Males Left
Last year, a female giant Yangtze softshell turtle died in Ðong Mô Lake located in Hanoi, Vietnam. The species is symbolic in Vietnam, and the female’s death means their future is looking bleaker than ever.
Local residents spotted the turtle’s body floating on the surface of the lake. The female was likely the last one remaining of the species.
Only two known males are left—one is living at Suzhou Zoo in China, and the other is in Hanoi’s Xuân Khanh Lake.
“It is the same individual that we’ve been monitoring in recent years. It’s a real blow,” said Tim McCormack, the director of the Asian Turtle Program for Indo-Myanmar Conservation.
“It was a large female that obviously had great reproductive capacity. She could have potentially laid a hundred eggs or more a year.”
The reptile was just over five feet long and weighed about 205 pounds. It may have died several days before locals reported the sighting. The female was discovered in January 2021, bringing hope that the species could be saved from extinction.
The reptile is also known as the Hoàn Kiem turtle. The population has experienced an extreme decline due to rising levels of pollution, as well as decades of hunting.
Previously, there was another female giant Yangtze softshell turtle, in Suzhou Zoo, but it died in 2018 while breeding efforts were in progress. The staff had been unsuccessful in getting a pair of these turtles to reproduce naturally for years.
“The whole time, in 20 years I’ve been working with the species, we’ve never seen any eggs,” said McCormack.
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“There has been an artificial nesting beach built in Ðong Mô Lake for almost 10 years now, which has had no nesting. So one of the questions has been whether this was a lone animal or whether there are other animals in Ðong Mô.”
There may be another giant Yangtze softshell turtle in Ðong Mô Lake, according to the Asian Turtle Program. But scientists have only managed to identify the one female to this day.
The Hoàn Kiem turtle has great spiritual significance in Vietnam. Legend has it that a turtle in Hoàn Kiem Lake gave a sword to emperor Lê Loi in the 15th century, which he used to defeat Chinese forces in the area.
Over the years, sightings of the giant Yangtze softshell turtle have been rare. In 2011, the last giant Yangtze softshell turtle in Hoàn Kiem Lake was recorded slowly emerging from the water and devouring a dead cat before sinking back down into the depths. It died in January 2016.
The turtles used to be common in the lakes and rivers of northern Vietnam, but pollution has destroyed their natural habitat. Nearly all the lakes in Hanoi are contaminated with trash, wastewater, and invasive algae.
Hopefully, more protections will be put in place in the future to protect the species that make the lakes and rivers in Vietnam their home.
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