Swinhoe’s Soft Shell Turtle
Researchers from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have discovered a large turtle in a lake west of Hanoi. Previously thought to be extinct in the wild, the Swinhoe’s Soft Shell Turtle is only known from three other specimens in captivity, two in China and one in a pond in the city of Hanoi.
There is a Vietnamese legend about a giant turtle that took a magic sword from the Emperor that had been given to him to expell the Chinese army. The turtle in the Hanoi pond is believed to be this same turtle, and people consider it lucky to catch sight of this creature in the pond.
More information on this rare turtle can be found here, at Science Daily. Efforts are being made to get the two Chinese turtles to reproduce, but it is not known if this highly-endangered species can be saved.
I am doing a required project in Acc. Science class at school on the Swinhoe Soft Shell Turtle. At first I thought that this would continue out as a boring project that I do all of the time. However, I discovered I was wrong and, and that this endangered species should get much more recognition toward it’s newly discovered existence. I thank you for spreading the word about this poor turtle and I as well hope that it can be saved by possibly reproducing.
-Jessica
Jessica
May 26, 2008 at 8:10 pm