Hoan Kiem turtles (Source: Internet) Hanoi (VNA) – Danko Group, a real estate group, has donated 1 billion VND (over 43,000USD) to the Asian Turtle Programme(ATP) under the Indo-MyanmarConservation (IMC) to promote the conservationof Hoan Kiem turtles (Rafetus swinhoei) in the world, including those inVietnam.
In 2012, scientists placed Hoan Kiem turtle on the list of 100 rarest animalspecies in the world and a unique turtle species, only existing in Asia.
After the giant Hoan Kiem turtle died in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake in 2016 and theHoan Kiem turtle in Suzhou Zoo in China died in 2019, the world officiallyrecorded only three individuals, including one male turtle at Suzhou Zoo ofChina, and two in Vietnam - one in Xuan Khanh Lake and one in Dong Mo Lake inHanoi.
Danko Group funds project to protect Hoan Kiem turtles (Photo: nongnghiep.vn) In addition to the significance for conservation, the Hoan Kiem turtle has longbeen associated with the cultural and spiritual life of Hanoians in particularand the Vietnamese people in general. This species of turtle lived in Hoan KiemLake for a long period of history, linked with the legend of national hero LeLoi (1385 – 1433).
ATP has been working to conserve the world's rarest turtle species. The mostimportant achievement was the discovery and conservation of two Hoan Kiemturtles in Dong Mo and Xuan Khanh lakes.
ATP was established in 1998 and incorporatedinto the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo/Cleveland Zoological Society’s Asia regionalprogramme in 2003.
Since the ATP originated with the development of the Turtle Conservation Centre(TCC) at Cuc Phuong National Park together with the local non-governmentalorganisation - Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), ATP has been working on theconservation of tortoises and freshwater turtles (TFT) in Southeast Asia. Muchof its work in the last 20 years has been focused in Vietnam, where, of the 26confirmed species here, six are listed as Vulnerable, nine are Endangered and sevenare Critically Endangered, according to IUCN’s Red List (2019).
ATP has concentrated its efforts on Vietnam’s priority species including thosewhich are critically endangered or endemic, such as the endemic Vietnamese PondTurtle (Mauremys annamensis), the Box Turtles of central Vietnam - Cuora bourreti and Cuora picturata,and the legendary Hoan Kiem Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), also known asSwinhoe’s Softshell Turtle, in northern Vietnam, largely recognised as the mostendangered turtle species in the world./.
VNA
