This story made headlines yesterday… but I was busy entertaining the dogs while we had the carpets cleaned. (And my carpets are SO clean, it’s just lovely.)
There are only three Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtles in the world, and they are all in captivity. Two reside in Chinese zoos; one lives in the poetically named Returned Sword Lake (Hoan Kiem) in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam. And that’s it. Three turtles in the whole world.
At least… that’s what researchers thought until this past December. Photographic evidence showed a Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle in the wild — in a lake in northern Vietnam. And where there’s one Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle, there may be more. There may be hope that this nearly-extinct species may have more representatives out there.
Researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have been working with the Chelonian Research Institute and the Vietnamese government to preserve and protect Asian turtles since 2003. The work was inspired by reports of increased turtle killings for food or to make traditional medicine from turtle bones. The researchers also investigated the loss of nesting habitats along rivers thanks to development and pollution.
Rumors of a mythical creature living in a lake in northern Vietnam sent the researchers out to take pictures and video. There is a Vietnamese legend of a giant golden turtle who gave the nation a magic sword in the sixteenth century — allowing them a victory over Chinese invaders. Some suspected it was the same magical turtle living in the lake, blessing people with an occasional glimpse of a shell or head. Until now, most people suspected the giant turtle was a cousin to the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot — something people talked about but never had evidence on record.
For now, the wild Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle will remain in the wild — in a lake in northern Vietnam. Hopefully more of these giant turtles will show up and the breed can be brought back from the brink of extinction.