From Hoan Kiem Lake Turtle: from myth to reality .
The turtle and the Ho Hoan Kiem - also called Ho Guom or Lake of the Restored Sword - are very famous, as both the lake and the animal are closely attached to the legend of King Le Loi returning the precious sword to the turtle genius of Ho Luc Thuy (the former name of Ho Guom during that period of time) in the 15th century.
Ho Guom’s turtles have been living in the witness of many Hanoians as well as tourists, reminders of the historical pages in the heroic struggle of Vietnam.
For all Hanoians, Hoan Kiem’s turtle is a supernatural animal, and is a living treasure of the city.
According to Prof Duc, turtles in the lake belong to a soft shell species measuring nearly two metres in length and weighing over 200 kilograms. Few know of the 130 species of the micro-algae family, and 33 endemic species that exist solely in the lake.
It is a very rare long surviving animal threatened with extinction.
Prof Duc believes the turtle that made off with Le Loi’s sword is still living in the lake. That would make it about 550 years old.
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Effort to mate two elderly China turtles ends without offspring. (IHT)
The fate of the Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle is especially dire because only one female is known to exist - an 80-year-old turtle with a leathery shell that lived without notice for a half century inside a zoo in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province in southern China. Only when scientists discovered her existence last year did it become clear that she represents perhaps the only chance to save her species. ..