The individual Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle at Dong Mo Lake, one of the three officially recognized Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtles in the world, has passed away, narrowing the hope of restoring the rarest turtle species in the world.
On April 24th, at noon, a conservation expert informed reporters that the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle at Dong Mo (Hanoi) has died. This turtle weighed nearly 100kg.
Local residents and experts discovered the turtle’s body floating on the water’s surface. Currently, the cause of death of this extremely rare turtle is still under investigation.
Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle at Dong Mo. (Photo taken by the Asian Turtle Conservation Program in 2020).
Previously, in an effort to conserve this particularly rare turtle species, in 2020, conservationists set traps in Dong Mo Lake and discovered an individual believed to be the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle.
Scientists took samples, conducted genetic analysis, and performed in-depth studies. The results confirmed that the individual at Dong Mo is female and belongs to the species Rafetus swinhoei, commonly known as the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle.
According to the Asian Turtle Conservation Program, the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle (also known as Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle, Rafetus swinhoei) is a species of giant softshell turtle first described in 1873, but there have been very few studies on the species.
This largest freshwater turtle species is also considered the most endangered turtle in the world. Therefore, this species is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) in the IUCN Red List (2019) and is among the 25 most endangered tortoise and freshwater turtle species worldwide according to research by the Turtle Conservation Alliance (2018).
Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle at Dong Mo. (Photo taken by the Asian Turtle Conservation Program in 2020).
After the death of the turtle at Hoan Kiem Lake in 2016 and the individual at Suzhou Zoo, China, which died in April 2019, only three individuals of this species are known to exist. One male is at Suzhou Zoo, while Vietnam has two individuals: one at Dong Mo Lake discovered in 2007 and another confirmed in April 2018 at Xuan Khanh Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam, using modern environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.
With the passing of the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle at Dong Mo Lake, the hope of restoring the rarest turtle species in the world is gradually diminishing.
