Soft-shelled turtle in Đồng Mô Lake. — Photo Asian Turtle Programme

HÀ NỘI — A giant soft-shelled member of the world’s most endangered turtle species reportedly died in Đồng Mô Lake in Hà Nội’s Sơn Tây Town on Sunday morning.

The turtle was 1.56m in length and weighed 93kg.

Experts will conduct an autopsy on the animal to clarify the cause of death.

The Đồng Mô Lake turtle was discovered by Asian Turtle Programme conservationists in 2007. During the historic floods in Hà Nội in 2008, it got out of the lake and was caught by local residents.

The soft-shell turtle in Đồng Mô Lake belongs to the species Rafetus swinhoei, the same species as the turtle in Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

After its death, the turtle from Hoàn Kiếm Lake was stuffed and placed in Ngọc Sơn Temple.

Rafetus swinhoei is the rarest turtle in the world with official records of only three individuals remaining. Besides the one which recently died at Đồng Mô, one is living in Suzhou Zoo, China and another in Xuân Khanh Lake, Hà Nội.

The one in China reportedly died in 2019. — VNS