Second known living member of the species
The Wildlife Conservation Society in Vietnam was recently excited to find an extremely rare, largest living freshwater turtle, Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) in Dong Mo Lake, in Hanoi’s Son Tay district.
They are considered as endangered (likely to become extinct) and also known as Yangtze giant softshell turtle and Hoan Kiem turtle, since they were abundant once in those regions.
The present one is a female and is the second known living member of the species. Another male one is found in captivation at Suzhou Zoo in China.
The newly identified species was about one metre in length and weighed around 86 kilograms. Its head has a patterned skin and the shell is very soft. It rarely comes out of the water. Recently observers have spotted an even larger Swinhoe’s softshell turtle and are yet to confirm its presence.
