Washington, Apr 19 (UNI) ''Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle,'' a near extinct in
wild, has been found in the wetlands of North Vietnam living.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has just announced the discovery of a critically
endangered turtle in northern Vietnam that previously was thought to be extinct
in the wild, Science Daily reported.
Experts from the Zoo's Asian Turtle Programme confirmed that they have
identified the only known living specimen of a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle
(Rafetus swinhoei) in nature.
After three years of searching lakes and wetlands along the Red River in
northern Vietnam, researchers sponsored by Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the
Cleveland Zoological Society, turned their focus to a lake just west of Hanoi,
where local residents claimed to have occasionally seen the gigantic soft-shell
turtle.
''This is an incredibly important discovery because the Swinhoe's turtle is
one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world,'' the
Vietnam-based coordinator Doug Hendrie, of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Asian
Turtle Programme said.
''This species has legendary status among the people of Vietnam, so this is
perhaps an opportunity for the legend to live on,'' he said.
Other than the turtle discovered by Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Asian Turtle
Programme, only three of the giant turtles are known to remain. Two of them are
at zoos' in China, and one is in the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. The Swinhoe's
soft-shell turtle is considered by many in Vietnam to be a national treasure.
UNI XC SZ KP1926
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