[Vnbiz] Cleveland zoo researchers find rare giant turtle in Vietnam

[Tai Phan]

Cleveland zoo researchers find rare giant turtle in Vietnam

Wed Apr 16, 11:01 PM ET

CLEVELAND - Researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have discovered a
rare giant turtle in northern Vietnam — a find that carries great scientific
and cultural significance. Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle was previously
thought to be extinct in the wild. Three other turtles of the species are in
captivity, said experts from the Zoo's Asian turtle program.
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The discovery represents hope for the species, said Doug Hendrie, the
Vietnam-based coordinator of the zoo program.

Turtle expert Peter Pritchard, president of the Chelonian Research
Institute, confirmed the find based on a photo Hendrie showed him.

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

There have been rumors for years of a mythical creature living deep in the
waters of a northern Vietnam lake. Some in a village west of Hanoi claimed
to be blessed by catching a glimpse of it's concave shell as it crested
above the surface of their lake.

A national legend tells of a giant golden turtle that bestowed upon the
Vietnamese people a magic sword and victory over Chinese invaders in the
16th century. Whether that sacred turtle has materialized in the 21st
century will be a matter of cultural debate among the Vietnamese.

"This is one of those mythical species that people always talked about but
no one ever saw," said Geoff Hall, zoo general curator.

Of the other three Swinhoe's soft-shell turtles in captivity, two are in
Chinese zoos and the other is cared for in the Hoan Kiem ("Returned Sword")
Lake in downtown Hanoi — the lake in which the legendary turtle appeared to
reclaim the sword from the emperor.

Pritchard said an amateur photographed a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle in
southern China about six months ago that he believes was legitimate.

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

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo began its effort to preserve and protect Asian
turtles in 2003 amid reports of increased killings for food or to make
traditional medicine from their bones. Development and pollution also led to
loss of nesting habitats along rivers, zoo officials said.

The zoo has put more than $275,000 into Asian turtle conservation
effortssince 2000 and has supported Hendrie since 2003, officials
said.

His team and scientists from Education for Nature-Vietnam had searched lakes
and wetlands along the Red River for three years before hearing about the
creature living outside Hanoi.

The turtle remains in the lake and researchers have notified the Vietnamese
government of its existence, Hendrie said.

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Information from:

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