Giant Vietnamese turtle 'not extinct'
Updated
United States biologists say they have found a soft-shell giant tortoise living in northern Vietnam, after believing it had become extinct in the wild.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo says its turtle experts spent three years searching for the Rafetus swinhoei turtle, before finding a living animal in Hoan Kiem Lake, west of the capital, Hanoi.
"This is an incredibly important discovery because [it] is one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world," said Doug Hendrie, the zoo's Vietnam-based Asian Turtle Program co-ordinator.
"This species has legendary status among the people of Vietnam, so this is perhaps an opportunity for the legend to live on."
The zoo says just two other living specimens of the turtle are known, both of which live in zoos in China.
The reptile can live for more than 100 years, reach nearly a metre in length and weigh up to 136kg.
The turtle has become critically endangered due to being hunted for food and losing its nesting habitats to development.
