World's Most Endangered Turtle Yangtze Giant Soft-shell Turtle

The female Yangtze Giant Soft-shell Turtle at Changsha Zoo, Hunan Province of China, one of the only three known live turtles of the species Rafetus swinhoei in the world




Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle, scientific name Rafetus swinhoei, is a species of soft-shell turtle that is indigenous to China and Vietnam. It is also known as the Shanghai soft-shell turtle or Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle. It is believed to be the largest fresh water turtle in the world.

Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List 2006 and is the most endangered turtles in the world.

Even though the animal is dubbed as Panda in Water in China, it is much more rare than panda, because there are only three known to survive on the planet. An 80-year-old female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle from Changsha Zoo in central Hunan Province, and a 100-year-old male at eastern China's Suzhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province. The third one, the world's only living example of Rafetus swinhoei in the wild lives in Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi.

Since this May, the two Chinese turtles were brought together under a reproduction program collaborated by Chinese scientists and their American counterparts in order to save this species.

The male Yangtze Giant Soft-shell Turtle at Suzhou Zoo, Jiangsu Province of China, one of the only three known live turtles of the species Rafetus swinhoei in the world

Sadly, the earlier results were unsuccessful, as none of nearly 100 eggs the female turtle produced this year were hatched. Scientists have to try again next May in 2009.