Global News - April 2008

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Researchers discover one of the rarest species on earth

Thu 17 April 2008 14:00 UK — Asia,Marine Wildlife

Researchers from the US have discovered a critically-endangered turtle that was previously thought to be extinct in the wild.

The team said they found the only known living specimen of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle in northern Vietnam.

In order to make the discovery, the researchers spent three years searching the lakes and wetlands along the Red River in northern Vietnam. After locals claimed to have occasionally spotted a large soft-shelled turtle, the team turned their attention to a lake just west of Hanoi.

Field biologist Nguyen Xuan Thuan managed to find the turtle and photograph it while it basked on the lake's surface.

One of the researchers, Doug Hendrie, commented: "This is an incredibly important discovery because the Swinhoe's turtle is one of the most critically-endangered species of turtle in the world.

"This species has legendary status among the people of Vietnam, so this is perhaps an opportunity for the legend to live on."

The Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in the world and can grow up to three feet in length. It is thought they can live to be more than 100.

Only three other Swinhoe's soft-shell turtles survive in the world, all in captivity.

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