One of world’s three Hoan Kiem turtles dies in Hanoi
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 13:18 GMT+7
An endangered Hoan Kiem Turtle, among the last of its kind in the world, recently died at a lake in Hanoi.
Phung Huy Vinh, head of the economic bureau of Son Tay Town, said on Monday that a member of the Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), which oversees a project for the conservation of the Hoan Kiem turtle, found the dead Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) at Dong Mo Lake.
The turtle had been chipped and released into the lake back in 2020 and was 1.56 meters in length and weighed 93 kilograms.
The results of genetic testing in the same year confirmed that this creature is a female turtle.
Vinh noted that experts are conducting research on its body to determine its age and cause of death.
The Hoan Kiem turtle was first described back in 1873, but there has been very little research done on this giant soft-shell creature.
It is the most endangered turtle in the world as official records show only two specimens of its kind in existence apart from the dead one at Dong Mo Lake, including one living in China and the other residing in Xuan Khanh Lake in Hanoi.
The turtle at Dong Mo was first detected by conservationists in 2007.
Previously, a Rafetus swinhoei living in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake died in 2016.
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