VietNamNet Bridge – Mr. Nguyen Ba Toan, 60, in Hanoi’s suburban district of Gia Lam, on October 12, netted a 22.7kg turtle near the pier of Chuong Duong Bridge, which crosses the Red River.
Toan often casts nets at the pier of Chuong Duong Bridge at night and collects the nets in the morning of the next day. On October 12, Toan collected the nets at around 9am as usual and saw a big, dark brown

creature which was puffing on the net. It turned out to be a giant turtle.

Toan said he has never seen such a big turtle in his life. After over half of hour, the man took the turtle to the shore.

Many people went to Toan’s home to see the giant turtle. Some people were willing to pay thousands of USD to buy the creature but Toan did not agree.

The turtle is 22.7kg in weight, 1m long and 50cm wide. Especially it looks similar to the iconic turtle in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake.

Nguyen Viet De, an expert from the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told VietNamNet that a turtle of 22kg in weight is not strange because the longer turtles live, the bigger they are. In

Vietnam, wild animals have been hunted for a long time, so such a big turtle becomes a phenomenon.

Dr. Ha Dinh Duc, who has researched the Hoan Kiem turtle for decades, said that this turtle is a southern turtle, not the one of the same species with the Hoan Kiem turtle. Duc said the turtle caught by Toan is

actually of Asiatic soft-shell species, which can be found in Middle and Southern Vietnam. The turtle could have been brought to Hanoi and have escaped to the river. According to Duc, Asiatic soft-shell turtle can

weigh up to 40-50 kilos. In 1993, a 32-kilo turtle of this kind was caught in Bay Hanoi’s Bay Mau Lake. This species is in the Red List of Threatened Species and needs to be preserved.

In related news, the Hoan Kiem turtle has fully recovered.

Thu Ly