Rafetus Swinhoei - Gentle Giants of the World.

You are in Hanoi, a city of lakes, seeking a giant turtle that may very well be over 700 years old, in a small shallow lake, a terribly polluted, shallow lake. With a silent prayer of not falling into the water, you set off in your canoe.

You seen the waters swirling when your friend pointed and said "there", a little to excitedly for your taste. Was that a shadow? No, to big, had to be a bird flying overhead. You knew the stories and had heard the local gossip, your gaze trained to the smooth waters surface, you scoured for a sign of 'the giant turtle'. You are quite taken aback when a mug only a mother could love, broke the surface right at the side of the canoe.

You're rendered speechless at the intelligent wide eyed gaze meeting yours, studying you, sizing you up and most likely judging you, if the stories were true. At this precise moment it is incredibly easy to believe this turtle is over 700 years old, a legend and yes, probably smarter than you. Blending in perfectly with the waters murkiness, your positive it winked at you before slipping under the water and away from view. You have just seen one of the rarest turtles in the world.

There are only 4 animals left for the species Rafetus Swinhoei and they are all located in Asia. Two are in a zoo in China, the Suhoza zoo, and the other two live in the wild in Vietnam. One lives in a polluted, overrun with red earred sliders in the middle of Hanoi lake, known as Hoan Kiem (Lake of Returned Sword). Interestingly, it is this one turtle in Hanoi that has made the species 'famous' so to say. The second wild turtle is living a bit away from Hanoi in a lake known as Dong Mo, who if I may say so, is quite the handful for a nearly 4ft long turtle.

This article covers many aspects of this species, its unique history with the city Hanoi and the legends that surround the turtle, what needs to be done to help the animals, the troubles encountered, scientific information goodies and loads of pictures.

Rafetus swinhoei species were first described in 1873, other than that not much has been done with the species. It was nearly a 100 years later in 1967 during the Vietnam War that the legendary turtle species was next heard of.

June 12, 1967 at roughly 10am, police officers in Hanoi, not wishing to be targeted by US Aircraft, were dispersing a crowd that was gathering at the lake in the middle of the city. Seeing the large turtle swim to shore, he attempted to shoo it back into the water, hoping the turtle gone, people disperse, since they were not listening to them in the presence of the large majestic beast.

Noticing blood, assuming it was injured (good assumption!) presumably from air strikes two days ago, the people tried to get help for the turtle. A food company heard of the large turtles plight and offered to buy it for 2.7 kg/VND, so they could sell it as meat. Someone (thank you!) alerted the Hanoi's People Committee who alerted the mayor who put a stop to the sale.

The people who were involved, did all they could to help the 6ft long and 441 pound animal, but with the mishandling, the war (police stayed to protect the turtle during a shelling and they used precious ice and medicine on the turtle as well), the hole in its shell and the lung that was punctured ... the animal died that afternoon. Experts claimed the turtle was 400 years old.

Inquiries were demanded, no bullet was found. The turtle was stuffed and put on display in Ngoc Son Temple. The people did love their giant turtle, it is still displayed and maintained today. The investigation found that a food company (not sure if same one who tried to buy it originally), had hired men to draw up the nets. The men couldn't draw up the nets, cause the 441 pound turtle was in them. The boat was getting unsteady with all that rockin. A man on the boat had a flash of brilliance, and he hit the soft shelled turtle with a crowbar, that oughta get him out. It is said this same man ran away when he learned what he had done.

Hoan Kiem lake is a peaceful spot in the middle of a hectic city. It gives the city a delightful mix of old world charm and modern day. Turtle tower (in the picture above) is where the giant turtle of Hanoi likes to hang out.

The Hanoians call this turtle Cu Rua, meaning great grandfather a title of respect and honour, he I mean she, has a special connection with the city that is both cultural and spiritual. Many of the people in Hanoi, particularly the older ones, believe this turtle was here in the lake when Kim Qui (a golden turtle) gave a Vietnamese future ruler, a magical sword to defend Vietnam from the Chinese in the 15th century. Once defeated and Vietnam gained independence from China, the turtle, it is said, returned to take the sword back to the lake. The lake was then renamed Hoan Kiem, Lake of the Returned Sword.

There has been much argument, discussion and debate about the lakes turtle and when it arrived. There is no known record of the Rafetus family in Hanoi Lakes, but Hoan Kiem is or was connected to the Red River within documented history. It is known that when the Ly Dynasty before King Le Loi, moved the capital to Thang Long (present day Hanoi), bringing the turtles with them from Hoa Lu (Ninh Province at present), there was no mention of giant or large or medium sized turtles in Luc Thuy Lake (present day Hoan Kiem Lake).

The legend of the turtle appeared when King LeLoi came to the throne. It is widely believed that King LeLoi brought them with him from Than Hoa (central Vietnam) to the lake in Hanoi. Historical records show that species of giant turtles lived in Luong River, Lam Kinh (Than Hoa).

Regardless of the authenticity of the stories or where or how the turtle got where she is today, the Cu Rua and her species is of national pride for Vietnamese people. Not all, its only natural some see her as dollar signs.

Many believe seeing her rise out of the water will bring you luck, she has a tendency to show up when there are important events going on ... a sign she supports whatever the event is, apparently. But if you ever read any of my turtles articles, you will know that all turtles are curious, even the shy ones.

There was a lot of concern over Cu Rua earlier in the year when she started to come to the surface more and more, each time looking worse and worse. What made her sick could have been any number of things - the raw sewage they dump into their revered turtles home, the high level of urine, pollution from surround business and industry, it could have been the pesky Red Earred Sliders which are not native to Vietnam nipping and biting at the old girl as she laid on the bottom of the lake. They are opportunistic like that. Those little bites in polluted water, could have started the whole sickness.

Regardless why she was sick, she was and the people demanded the agencies fix her. And they did. No one wanted to move her any great distance and cause stress that can kill her, they made a makeshift home for her near turtle tower and treated her there. It took much longer than expected but it was successful and she looks like a million bucks.

The one great thing that came with her sickness ... they started to clean her lake, filtering and picking up the trash. She is a large girl, she moves on the bottom and her shell is soft, all it would take is one piece of metal jutting up just right. They also started trapping the RES, since they are non native and an invasive species and there are so many of them, they are competing for resources. The changes also included water being added to the lake to raise the level of the shallow lake, its levels range from 0.5 meters to 1.5 meters and it was restocked with close to 60,000 fish.

Much more needs doing, such as some national protection for the species and its habitat, continued fieldwork and searching for more, continued awareness (ATP is awesome at this) with the locals and educational programs and finally in Hanoi certainly, they need to continue with cleaning and maintaining a healthy habitat for 'their' turtle.

With all eyes on the girl in Hanoi, a most mischievous character has been overlooked. And from all the accounts I have come across, he is a handful to say the least, not to mention quite the looker and no doubt heart breaker, if there were more of his species around.

On November 26, 2008 in the early morning hours six local fisherman caught a large softshell turtle, nearly 3 feet long and weighing in at over 150 lbs. Previously, there had been a downpour and a dam broke and flooded his home, Dong Mo Lake. Members of the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) rushed to set up nets about 4 kilometres downstream, in an effort to catch the turtle. But he was already caught.The Forest Protection Department (FPD) upon hearing the fishermen had the escaped turtle and understanding the turtles importance and relative danger it was in, quickly arrived on scene.

It took rangers, police and government officials six hours of negotiations with the six fishermen before they agreed to turn the turtle over to authorities. The photos on the side are of the escapee in fishermen nets.

The male in Dong Mo was undiscovered until roughly 2006 - 2007 when he was seen breaking the waters surface. ATP rushed to the location and set up camp near the lake, these turtles though rare are worth a lot of money to these poorer villages. ATP actively works to educate and runs awareness campaigns, so the people can understand the turtles importance and the need for protection.

At the moment (2010-2011) the Lake Dong Mo has dropped 1meter past dead level. Essentially his home went from 1500 hectares to several dozen, due to rice irrigation. Dong Mo is the only wild or natural environment proven to be a good home for the species. But the farmers need for water, competes with the turtles need for a home and food. I do not suggest denying water to farmers, but something has to be done to help this species that man has literally wiped out to single digits mainly for food and money, the loss of their habitats and waterways is not helping.

I found it incredibly difficult to find information that was reliable, other than ATP and FPD, the rest was mostly myth and fact mixed all up and just a mess. I believe that the 4 known Rafetus Swinhoei, are all the same. There are two people in this debate who have a conflict of interest in how this Hanoi turtle plays out.

The Vietnamese in Hanoi, believe, due to incorrect facts being handed out, that their turtle is special and different than the other three and suggest their turtle be called Rafetus Leloii or Rafetus Vietnamensis. They have not only taken ownership and possession of the turtle with words like our/your/their words, they have given the turtle a cultural identity.

Vietnamese do not want Chinese turtles (the two in the Chinese Zoo, Shuzuzu) to be connected with their turtle. And the Dong Mo turtle, he is the same as the Chinese turtles. They are against the idea of their turtle breeding with the chinese turtles. They can not seem to accept that the turtles are not Chinese or Vietnamese, but turtles whose range was once the Red River. As water levels receded, landscape changed, some turtles were isolated from the main river, it does not make them a brand new species.

A self proclaimed expert Dr Ha Dinh Duc and a amateur photographer, are mudding up a already muddy situation with the only thing I can perceive it as, personal glory of some kind, both stand to benefit greatly if they can convince the world their turtle is different. Both have stated highly questionable statements and they mix their 'science' with eye witness (ask anyone, eye witnesses suck a**) and mythology.

Lets take for example, some DNA results that were taken recently from the Hanoi turtle. It was announced that their Hanoian turtle was completely different from the Dong Mo Lake turtle and thus it was different from the two in the zoo. It was at this time, the request to rename the turtle appeared. They went on to say that they could not say that the Dong Mo turtle was the same as the Hoan Kiem Lake turtle, as they do not have DNA from that turtle. An earlier study compared the Dong Mo turtle and the two in the zoo, they match, despite looking a little different. Right, so which samples of whose DNA were they using to compare against the Hoan Kiem turtle, or did they just see a smaller skull (physiology) and declare it brand new.

The expert and amateur photographer, also make statements that there are more than 1 turtle in the lake and uses his photos of various qualities to show different colours and angles of the turtle. He claims the turtles colours, size and features are different than Cu Rua. He is distracting from an important cause for personal gain or glory. He is doing nothing to help the turtle he claims to revere.

The two pictures on the side are of the same turtle, mere months apart. Do you see what I see ... I see a dark black looking turtle and a bright green one, yet it is the same turtle, not 2 turtles of same species, the exact same turtle. Pictures do lie, they are easily tinkered with, to much light to little, some stray dust and you got an orb.

Each one of these four turtles, live in different environments and eat different foods, no two German Shepherds look the exact same, its not different with turtles, even the by-the-millions-RES are varied in looks.

Throw all the money in the world at this turtle species. Pray till your knee bones shine through. Turn the animal into a cultural and spiritual icon or legend (not that it helped at all). Educate and make the people aware all you want. The species has been pushed past the brink of return.

Even if the turtles started breeding (which they are not), the gene pool for this specific species is greatly diminished, it requires a miracle and some colossal optimism, not to mention some sciences we haven't come up with yet, to think this turtles future is anything but bleak. When a population is reduced to single digits, the possibility of recovery in the wild is practically NIL. What of the two in the zoo you ask, they are laying eggs, but they are not fertilized. And even if they do fertilize, they are all of the same gene pool, interbreeding anyone. This is the danger of removing even one of the four, for personal or national glory.

Many turtle organizations still search for more living Rafetus specimens, particularly wild ones, but they continually only find skulls, bones and shells of turtles caught a decade or more ago. Asia ate, traded and took its home and food, for their own selves and their own comfort. You can't bring the turtles back, you OWE, yes Asia I mean you - all of you ... you owe these turtles something, you owe them a habitable environment, steady food source and protection in the form of national laws.

If you are ever in Hanoi ... go try your luck and see if you can see a piece of history, while it still lives.