--- description: The last known female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle died in Vietnam this past week. title: Rare, Revered Reptile on Brink of Extinction After Last Female Dies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt287e1115ae12b6de/698a3c5c457a52ae8fd678a7/Giant-Yangtze-Softshell-Turtle.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Vietnam](/tag/vietnam/) ## Vietnam Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # An Extremely Rare, Revered Reptile Is on the Brink of Extinction After Last Female Dies by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2023 10:00 AM CUT  A female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle, which died in 2023, in Hanoi in 2008. A female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle, which died in 2023, in Hanoi in 2008.Courtesy of Tim McCormack—Asian Turtle Program by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2023 10:00 AM CUT A dark oblong creature drifted from the depths of Hanoi’s 1,400-hectare Đồng Mô Lake and began to float, motionless, on the surface last weekend. Local residents and conservationists locked eyes on the gloomy sight, sharing fears about what this might mean for the future of a revered species in Vietnam. On Monday, [state media reports](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/environment/one-of-the-last-hoan-kiem-turtles-has-died-in-hanoi-4597435.html "undefined") suggested it was not only a Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle (_Rafetus_ _swinhoei_ _)_, but it was likely the last known female of the species, leaving only two known males remaining—one in Suzhou Zoo in China and another in Hanoi’s Xuân Khanh Lake. Speaking to TIME on Friday, Tim McCormack, director of the [Asian Turtle Program](https://asianturtleprogram.org/about-atp/ "undefined") for Indo-Myanmar Conservation, confirmed that the creature was almost certainly the last known female _Rafetus swinhoei_: “It is the same individual that we’ve been monitoring in recent years. It’s a real blow,” he said, noting that local authorities will soon complete a genetic test of the carcass to verify its identity. “It was a large female that obviously has great reproductive capacity. She could have potentially laid a hundred eggs or more a year.” News reports suggest that the reptile, which is 156 centimeters long and weighs 93 kilograms, could have died days before it was spotted by locals. The cause of death remains unknown, as local authorities are yet to carry out a full autopsy. The [discovery of the female in January 2021](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/01/hopes-for-most-endangered-turtle-after-discovery-of-female-in-vietnam-lake "undefined") had raised hopes that the species could be saved from extinction. The reptile, also known as the Hoàn Kiếm turtle, has been driven to the brink of disappearance by rising levels of pollution as well as decades of [hunting for its meat and eggs](https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/killing-gods-the-last-hope-for-the-worlds-rarest-reptile/ "undefined"). Previously, there was another female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle in Suzhou Zoo in China, [but it died amid breeding efforts in 2018](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/15/last-female-world-rarest-yangtze-giant-softshell-turtle-species-dies-chinese-zoo#:~:text=The%20Yangtze%20giant%20softshell%20turtle,her%20senior%2C%20the%20newspaper%20reported. "undefined"). For many years, staff tried unsuccessfully to get the pair of turtles at the zoo to reproduce naturally.  A female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle, which died during an insemination operation in 2019, surfaces for sunshine at the Suzhou Zoo in east China's Jiangsu province, Nov. 05, 2014. FeatureChina/AP “The whole time, in 20 years I’ve been working with the species, we’ve never seen any eggs,” McCormack added. “There has been an artificial nesting beach built in Đồng Mô Lake for almost 10 years now, which has had no nesting. So one of the questions has been whether this was a lone animal or whether there are other animals in Đồng Mô.” According to the Asian Turtle Program, there may be another _Rafetus swinhoei_ living in Đồng Mô Lake, which gives conservationists reason to not give up on the species yet. But to date, scientists have only managed to catch and identify the one female. “We’re also working at Xuân Khanh Lake in Hanoi, where environmental DNA has confirmed there is a male _R_ _afetus_,” McCormack said, adding that there is a need to capture and identify the reptile. ## **A revered creature** The Hoàn Kiếm turtle is of great spiritual importance in Vietnam. In the 15th century, according to Vietnamese mythology, a turtle in Hoàn Kiếm Lake gifted a sword to emperor Lê Lợi, which he used to vanquish occupying Chinese forces. Khoi Pham, the editor of arts and culture magazine _Saigoneer_, tells TIME: “The fact that _Rafetus swinhoei_’s natural habitat overlaps with the story’s location elevates the species’ cultural significance in the eyes of Vietnamese. It’s like we have a tangible connection to history right in our backyard, and seeing the turtle alive and kicking makes the legends seem more real and our past victories more validated.” Sightings of _Rafetus swinhoei_ have proved a rare occurrence in recent years. One [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRUyAwh7jD8&ab%5Fchannel=SamGraham "undefined") recorded in March 2011 shows a crowd thronging one side of Hanoi’s Hoàn Kiếm Lake. A palpable sense of awe spreads among the gathering as they stare expectantly at the grimy water, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famed Cụ Rùa, the honorific given to the last Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle in Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Slowly, tentatively, the huge beast emerged, viciously shredding a dead cat in its jaws before sinking back down into the murky depths. The crowd was utterly jubilant, shrieking in delight. When Cụ Rùa died in January 2016, Hanoians mourned its passing. Some also saw its death as a bad omen for the ruling Communist Party, which was about to kick off its five-yearly National Congress.  The embalmed body of the legendary Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle Cu Rua is exhibited in the Ngoc Son temple in Hanoi, March 21, 2019\. Until his death in January 2016, the turtle was worshipped as the last descendant of the mythical turtle god Kim Quy. Bennett Murray—dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images “Turtles have long been revered in Vietnamese culture as a symbol of longevity, wisdom, and stability. The creatures appear as decorative motifs in temples and monuments, and as mythological figures in many folk legends,” added Khoi. “It’s a shame that, for a country that respects turtle deities so much, we have been doing such a poor job of protecting their real-life counterparts.” ## **Its polluted habitat** _Rafetus swinhoei_ were once abundant in the rivers and lakes of northern Vietnam, yet growing levels of pollution have gravely degraded their natural habitat. [Practically all](https://vietnamnet.vn/en/97-percent-of-lakes-in-hanoi-are-polluted-E166417.html "undefined") of Hanoi’s lakes are heavily contaminated due to a [deadly combination](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-life/hanoi-to-clean-up-iconic-lake-two-years-after-legendary-turtle-dies-of-pollution-3676899.html "undefined") of [industrial and residential wastewater](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/hanoi-s-lakes-blighted-by-serious-pollution-3401255.html "undefined"), [dumped trash](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/foul-deed-hanoi-lays-waste-to-a-majestic-river-4011814.html "undefined"), and [invasive algae](https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/toxic-algae-poses-threat-to-hanoi-s-iconic-sword-lake-3739151.html#:~:text=Toxic%20algae%20poses%20threat%20to%20Hanoi's%20iconic%20Sword%20Lake%20%2D%20VnExpress%20International "undefined"). “In general, a healthy environment leads to healthy individuals. Đồng Mô Lake is a large water body, so therefore is less likely to be polluted compared to smaller bodies,” said McCormack. “The one in central Hanoi, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, was very polluted.” Although the loss of the female _Rafetus swinhoei_ in Đồng Mô Lake has shocked and saddened conservationists, some hope remains. “I do think there’s more out there,” McCormack said. “I do think there’s still hope for the species, but the loss of a large female is very sad.” “There are tissue samples being preserved from the Hoàn Kiếm turtle,” he added. “That’s potential for the future, but ideally we should be protecting what we’ve got now.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6275373/giant-yangtze-softshell-turtle-female-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6275373/giant-yangtze-softshell-turtle-female-dies/"},"headline":"An Extremely Rare, Revered Reptile Is on the Brink of Extinction After Last Female Dies","datePublished":"2023-04-28T10:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:53:18.991Z","description":"The last known female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle died in Vietnam this past week.","url":"https://time.com/6275373/giant-yangtze-softshell-turtle-female-dies/","keywords":["Vietnam","freelance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt287e1115ae12b6de/698a3c5c457a52ae8fd678a7/Giant-Yangtze-Softshell-Turtle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt287e1115ae12b6de/698a3c5c457a52ae8fd678a7/Giant-Yangtze-Softshell-Turtle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle","caption":"A female Giant Yangtze Softshell Turtle, which died in 2023, in Hanoi in 2008.","creditText":"Courtesy of Tim McCormack—Asian Turtle Program","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vietnam/","name":"Vietnam"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6275373/giant-yangtze-softshell-turtle-female-dies/","name":"An Extremely Rare, Revered Reptile Is on the Brink of Extinction After Last Female Dies"}}]}] ```