US-based Conservation International (CI) has made public the list of ten endangered species of turtles in the world. The turtle species in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake is most endangered.
The list of ten species of turtles and tortoises which face extinction has two species from Vietnam: the Hoan Kiem turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) at the first position and Mauremys annamensis, an endemic tortoise species in central Vietnam, at the 9th position.
Rafetus swinhoei is a species of soft-shell turtle. It may be the largest fresh water turtle in the world. It is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List 2006, and is one of the rarest turtles in the world. There are only two known to survive in China: an 80-year-old female in Changsha Zoo and a 100-year-old male in Suzhou Zoo. In Vietnam, two examples of this species also exist. One lives in Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi, and the other lives in Dong Mo Lake near Hanoi. In 2007, scientists conducting surveys west of Hanoi discovered the world's only living example of Rafetus swinhoei in the wild.
The Asian Turtle Program (ATP) is conducting research to find out whether there is another Rafetus swinhoei in Dong Mo lake or not in order to couple them to preserve this species.
The Vietnamese Pond Turtle or Annam Leaf Turtle (Mauremys annamensis) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (Bataguridae). Endemic to a small area in central Vietnam, it was reportedly abundant in the 1930s, but all field surveys after 1941 had failed to locate any in the wild. It was occasionally seen traded as food.
In 2006 a wild population of Mauremys annamensis was found in Quang Nam Province. Despite its rarity, specimens of Mauremys annamensis have been observed for sale in China and Hong Kong and have been illicitly imported into the USA. A small number of Mauremys annamensis are being bed in captivity on Hainan Island in southern China, as well as at the Cuc Phuong Turtle Conservation Center located in Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Vietnam. The species is nonetheless close to extinction in the wild, as illegal hunting seems to continue.
Other endangered species of turtles in Vietnam include the northern, southern and central Vietnamese Box Turtles.
Many people are worrying for the health and the life of the legendary turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake after the media reported that he is living with fish-hooks on his shell and many other wounds.
