Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle Probably Soon Extinct

On April 21, 2023, the probably last remaining female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) was found dead in Dong Mo Lake in Hanoi District. This likely condemns the species to extinction, because the only animals of this species currently known are two males: one is living at Suzhou Zoo in China and the other, also in northern Vietnam, inhabits Xuan Khanh Lake.

For years, scientists had pinned virtually all their hopes of saving the reptile species from extinction on this female giant softshell turtle, which was about 1.50 meters long, weighed roughly 93 kilograms, and was only discovered in October 2020. Before that, another female Yangtze giant softshell turtle had already died in April 2019 after five unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination.

Why the last female giant softshell turtle died is still unclear. According to Time, the result of the autopsy was still pending at the time. Tim McCormack, director of the Asian Asian Turtle Program run by Indo-Myanmar Conservation, told the magazine that the dead turtle was almost certainly the last female of her kind. “It was a huge female with obviously great reproductive capacity. Theoretically, she could have laid a hundred eggs or more in a year,” McCormack explained.

The causes behind the dramatic decline and probable extinction of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle lie primarily in the pollution and destruction of its habitat, as well as in the decades-long hunting of the animals for their meat and eggs.