The last three male Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), also known as Hoan Kiem turtle, are no longer the last living survivors of its species after discovering another in Vietnam. The most exciting part is that the recently found Hoan Kiem happened to be a female.
In April of 2020, the former last known female Yangtze giant softshell turtle died in captivity at the Suzhou Shangfangshan Forest Zoo in China. Her death marked the beginning of the end for her species as the remaining living survivors are all males. Chances of any reproduction, be it natural or artificial, were gone.
However, that may no longer be the case. In Dong Mo lake, in Hanoi Vietnam's Son Tay district, a Hoan Kiem was found. After running some tests, the turtle conservation organization discovered that the turtle is a female. Also, there are reports of sighting another one, a male, in the same area.
How did they become endangered?
Before they were given legal protection in Vietnam and other places in Asia, these softshell turtles were hunted for their meats. Aside from being turned into a delicacy, their eggs are also sought after by Chinese traditional medicine practitioners. These are soaked in salt for some time and used to help cure diarrhea and other intestinal ailments.
Nonregulated hunting, which soon turned into illegal poaching, drove these defenseless turtle's number down the drain until it was fully recognized as an endangered, and soon critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species.
The drastic drop in numbers alarmed international conservation groups, WCS and TSA. They relocated the turtles in a desperate and drastic move, hoping that they would mate with each other. In a few years, they did mate, but the eggs they produced were not healthy enough to develop.
Turtle Conservation
This fantastic news lit the beacon of hope for all turtle conservationists around the world. As said by Andrew Walde, a member of the Turtle Survival Alliance, "This is the best news of the year and quite possibly of the last decade for global turtle conservation."
"In a year full of bad news and sadness across the globe, the discovery of this female can offer all some hope that this species will be given another chance to survive," said Hoang Bich Thuy, Vietnam's Wildlife Conservation Society director said.
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Attempts for artificial reproduction through insemination were also tried but no to avail. Conservation groups tried their best to repopulate and reproduce these turtles, but the shots were futile. All the previous attempts were then brought to an eventual halt when the female died of natural causes.
With the discovery of a younger and healthier female, WCS and TSA are now hoping for the best. Maybe, what they needed for successful reproduction was a healthier and younger female. One that still has enough reproductive drive for repopulation.
It's not time to finally declare their safety and ensure the chances of multiplying this turtle species, but there is still hope. And for these Yangtze giant softshell turtles, hope is more than enough.
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