Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle

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Yangtze giant softshell turtle
One of the two R. swinhoei of Dong Mo, Son Tay, Vietnam
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Rafetus
Species:
R. swinhoei
Binomial name
Rafetus swinhoei
(Gray, 1873)
Synonyms[2]
  • Oscaria swinhoei
    Gray, 1873
  • Yuen elegans
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen leprosus
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen maculatus
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen pallens
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen viridis
    Heude, 1880
  • Trionyx swinhonis
    Boulenger, 1889
  • Pelodiscus swinhoei
    Baur, 1893
  • Trionyx swinhoei
    Siebenrock, 1902
  • Amyda swinhoei
    Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934
  • Pelochelys taihuensis
    Zhang, 1984
  • Trionyx liupani
    Tao, 1986
  • Rafetus swinhoei
    — Meylan, 1987
  • Pelochelys maculatus
    Zhao, 1997
  • Pelochlys maculatus
    — Zhao, 1997
  • Rafetus leloii
    Hà Dình Dúc, 2000
    (nomen nudum)
  • Rafetus hoankiemensis
    Devaux, 2001
    (nomen nudum)

The Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle, Hoan Kiem turtle or Red River giant soft-shell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) is a turtle that lives in Asia. Very few of these turtles are alive today: Human beings know about only four. It is one of the most endangered animals in the world.[3]

What was the last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle died in a Suzhou zoo in China in 2019.[4] Another female was found in Vietnam in October 2020. Scientists tested her DNA and then put her back in the lake.[5]

This leaves four turtles alive: One male turtle living in Suzhou Shangfangshan Forest Zoo, the female turtle in Dong Mo Lake in Vietnam, perhaps another one in Dong Mo Lake, and another one in Xuan Khanh Lake in Vietnam.[4] Scientists don't know whether the Xuan Khanh lake turtle is male or female. Scientist Tim McCormack thinks the two lake turtles became trapped when people built dams on their rivers. Scientists say there might be more in other lakes and rivers.[6] Some scientists have gone on boats to look for them.[7]

Description[change | change source]

This turtle is very big with a pointy noise that it can use to breathe while keeping most of its body hidden underwater. Scientists do not know much about the way it acts in the wild because there are so few left. It is the largest turtle that lives in fresh water instead of sea water. It has a long, flat body. It can weigh 150 to 220 kilograms (330 to 485 pounds).[6]

The female can lay 30 or 40 eggs at a time, more than once each year.[6]

Natural range[change | change source]

The Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle used to live in the Red River in China and in many parts of Vietnam in the flood plain from the Yangtze River. It became endangered because humans built roads, buildings and dams where the turtle likes to live and because of pollution. It also became endangered because people would catch the turtle to eat it and its eggs and to sell turtles as pets.[4] Illegal hunters also catch the turtle to sell its body parts as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine. [6]

Mythology and legends[change | change source]

Kim Qui with the sword.

In Vietnamese culture, the Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle stands for Kim Qui, the Great Turtle God. In the story, the Dragon King gave a special sword called Heaven's Will to a Vietnamese hero. The hero was Emperor Lê Lợi. Emperor Lê Lợi used Heaven's Will to free Vietnam from the Chinese. Then Emperor Lê Lợi had to give Heaven's Will back to the Dragon King. He gave it to Kim Qui to give to him.[6]

Conservation efforts[change | change source]

In 2007, scientists found a female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle in a zoo in Changsha. The turtle had been there for more than fifty years, before Yangtze giant soft-shell turtles became rare. The people in the zoo knew she was a large, female turtle but not that she had become one of the rarest on Earth. The deputy director of the zoo was attending a conference about tigers and went to the speech about turtles for fun. He saw they were talking about the same kind of turtle as the one in his zoo.[8]

The people in Changsha knew they had a large turtle in their zoo, but they didn't know it was a Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle. A circus performer had sold her to the zoo in the 1950s.[8] They gave her raw meat to eat. The raw meat kept her body healthy, but it was not good for eggs. She laid eggs every year, but they never hatched. This was because no male turtle had fertilized them. It was also because she needed to eat foods with more calcium. Raw meat did not have enough.

When people heard the Changsha turtle was a female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle, they did not bring her to Suzhou right away. Both cities wanted the other turtle brought to them. They did not want to send their turtle to another city. Turtles are important symbols of living a long time in China, so the people of Changsha did not want to give her away. After a long time, the two zoos agreed. The female would come to Changsha and that they would share the baby turtles.[8] In 2008, people moved the female turtle from the Changsha Zoo to Suzhou Shangfangshan Forest Zoo.[4]

The first year, the female turtle laid many eggs, and about half of them were fertilized. None hatched. Some of the eggs had very thin shells.[9] The zookeepers saw there was not enough calcium in the food the turtle was eating. They fed her different foods with more calcium. Then they saw that visitors to the zoo were throwing food and garbage into the turtle's lake. They did this even though there were big signs saying not to.[10]

The other problem was that the male turtle's penis was not good. Years earlier, he had fought with another turtle. His penis was damaged,[11] so he could not have sex very well. Starting in 2015, the zookeepers collected the male turtle's male reproductive liquid and placed it inside the female using medical tools. Again, the female turtle laid eggs, but none hatched. The scientists tried something different every year.[12] In 2019, the female turtle died because she did not wake up from the medicine the zookeepers gave her to make her sleep during the medical process. The zookeepers cut out and froze tissue from her female reproductive organs.[4]

References[change | change source]

  1. Asia Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle": e.T39621A97401328. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2000.RLTS.T39621A10252043.en. Retrieved September 8, 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 321–322. ISSN 1864-5755. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  3. "Last female Yangtze giant softshell turtle dies". China Daily. April 14, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle dies in China". Mongabay. April 16, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  5. Thang Nguyen (December 18, 2020). "World's Most Endangered Turtle Gets Some Good News In 2020" (Press release). Wildlife Conservation Society of Vietnam. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Jeremy Hance (January 7, 2020). "Killing gods: The last hope for the world's rarest reptile". Mongabay. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  7. Jason Bittel (May 1, 2019). "Largest freshwater turtle nears extinction—but this scientist isn't giving up". National Geographic. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jim Yardley (December 5, 2007). "A dying turtle breed points to a battered China". New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  9. "Second breeding attempt for Rafetus swinhoei in China leads to cautious optimism". Turtle Survival Alliance. August 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  10. Gerald Kuchling (April 21, 2010). "Back in China – 2010". Turtle Survival Alliance. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  11. Brent Crane (December 24, 2018). "Chasing the World's Rarest Turtle". New Yorker. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  12. "Rafetus swinhoei Update, May 2017". Turtle Survival Alliance. May 15, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2020.