Mission to save the rare turtle of Vietnamese myth and legend
From The Independent
A rescue operation is underway to catch and treat a rare and ailing Vietnamese turtle that is revered as a powerful symbol of the nation’s independence struggle.
Thousands gathered around Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre of Hanoi, climbing trees and jostling for position, to watch as dozens of workers waded into the water and took to boats to try and catch the turtle, believed to be seriously sick. At one point, the workers appeared to have caught the creature using a net but he broke free and swam off again, with the officials in pursuit. Even the military has been called in to help.
The turtle in Hoan Kiem is a Rafetus swinhoei, commonly known as a red river giant softshell turtle, and one of the rarest species of turtle in the world. There are believed to be just four still surviving and the one in the lake in Hanoi is one of just two not living in a zoo.
In recent days, images have emerged of the turtle with open pink sores on its wrinkled legs and neck. The images, published on the front pages of the country’s newspapers have triggered widespread concern that something needs to done urgently. It is believed that rubbish and sewage finding its way into the lake, where crowds of people exercise every morning, have created a level of toxicity in the dirty green water that is slowly poisoning the animal.
The rarity of the turtle, reportedly known as great-grandfather and believed to be 80 to 100 years old, would be enough reason to save the animal and clean up the lake. In recent days, teams of volunteers have been removing rubbish and overseeing an operation to pump in clean water.
But the passion behind the effort is also driven by the status of reverence afforded to the 440lb animal that is more than one metre in length. Many Vietnamese people believe folklore that says the turtle is the same one described in the legend of King Le Loi, who is said to have defeated Chinese invaders with a magic sword given to him by the gods.
After the victory, the king was said to have been in a boat on the lake when a giant golden turtle made its way to the surface and took the sword and plunged back into the depths, keeping the weapon for when Vietnam needed it to fight for its freedom again.
“The Vietnamese believe the turtle is a guardian of a magical sword, Thuan Thiên, or Will of Heaven,” said Dana Healy, a Vietnam expert at University of London‘s School of African and Oriental Studies. “Hence the name of the lake in the middle of Hanoi, the Lake of Returned Sword, or Hoan Kiem.”
Even those who do not believe the turtle is the same one talked of in the legend, respect it as a symbol of the country’s long and bloody struggle for independence, and rare sightings of the animal are considered auspicious.
“I’m really glad that I’m part of the rescue operation and, hopefully, it will bring luck to my family,” said Nguyen Thanh Liem, a retired army captain, who was helping pull the net. “I wish he would be immortal to bless our nation.”
In a recent report, the international Turtle Conservation Coalition placed the Rafetus swinhoei in second position on a list of the 25 most threatened turtles. It said that in addition to the specimen in the centre of Hanoi, there was another in a lake to the west of the city and two more – a male and a female – in a Chinese zoo where efforts are being made to encourage them to breed. While eggs have been produced every year since 2008, all have died during incubation.
The report added: “It is hard to believe that such a magnificent creature is almost gone.”
Oil spill link suspected as dead dolphins wash ashore
COMMENT: The medium to long term effects of the deadly spill will take time to show, but show by bearing of their truth teeth …..
From The Independent today
The discovery of more than 80 dead dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico is raising fresh concerns about the effect on sea life from last year’s massive BP oil spill.
The dead dolphins began appearing in mid-January along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the United States. Although none of the carcasses appeared to show outward signs of oil contamination, all were being examined as possible casualties of the petrochemicals that fouled the sea water and sea bed after BP‘s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded last April, killing 11 men and rupturing a wellhead on the sea floor. The resulting “gusher” produced the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, releasing nearly five billion barrels of crude oil before it was capped in July.
The remains of 77 animals – nearly all bottlenose dolphins – have been discovered on islands, in marshes and on beaches along 200 miles of coastline. This figure is more than 10 times the number normally found washed up around this time of year, which is calving season for some 2,000 to 5,000 dolphins in the region. Another seven dead animals were reported yesterday, although the finds have not yet been confirmed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
One of the more disturbing aspects of the deaths is that nearly half – 36 animals so far – have been newborn or stillborn dolphin calves. In January 2009 and 2010, there were no reports of stranded calves, and because this is the first calving season since the BP disaster, scientists are concerned that the spill may be a cause.
“The number of baby dolphins washing ashore now is new and something we are very concerned about,” NOAA spokeswoman Blair Mase said. She said that the agency had declared the alarming cluster of deaths “an unusual mortality event”, adding: “Because of this declaration, many resources are expected to be allocated to investigating this.”
The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, has been tasked with examining the dead animals. “We are on high alert here,” said Moby Solangi, the institute’s director. “When we see something strange like this happen to a large group of dolphins, which are at the top of the food chain, it tells us the rest of the food chain is affected.”
Mr Solangi said that scientists from his organisation had performed full necropsies – the animal equivalent of autopsies – on about one-third of the dead calves. “The majority of the calves were too decomposed to conduct a full necropsy, but tissue samples were collected for analysis,” he said. So far the examinations have been inconclusive.
The spill was the greatest ever in the US – 20 times as big as the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989 – and initially it was thought it would prove the worst US environmental disaster, imperiling the rich wildlife of the gulf’s semi-tropical waters.
By the end of last year about 7,000 dead creatures had been collected, including more than 6,000 birds and 600 sea turtles. But this compares with the figure of perhaps 250,000 seabirds killed as a result of the March 1989 Exxon disaster.
The discovery of more than 80 dead dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico is raising fresh concerns about the effect on sea life from last year’s massive BP oil spill.
The dead dolphins began appearing in mid-January along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the United States. Although none of the carcasses appeared to show outward signs of oil contamination, all were being examined as possible casualties of the petrochemicals that fouled the sea water and sea bed after BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded last April, killing 11 men and rupturing a wellhead on the sea floor. The resulting “gusher” produced the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, releasing nearly five billion barrels of crude oil before it was capped in July.
The remains of 77 animals – nearly all bottlenose dolphins – have been discovered on islands, in marshes and on beaches along 200 miles of coastline. This figure is more than 10 times the number normally found washed up around this time of year, which is calving season for some 2,000 to 5,000 dolphins in the region. Another seven dead animals were reported yesterday, although the finds have not yet been confirmed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
One of the more disturbing aspects of the deaths is that nearly half – 36 animals so far – have been newborn or stillborn dolphin calves. In January 2009 and 2010, there were no reports of stranded calves, and because this is the first calving season since the BP disaster, scientists are concerned that the spill may be a cause.
“The number of baby dolphins washing ashore now is new and something we are very concerned about,” NOAA spokeswoman Blair Mase said. She said that the agency had declared the alarming cluster of deaths “an unusual mortality event”, adding: “Because of this declaration, many resources are expected to be allocated to investigating this.”
The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, has been tasked with examining the dead animals. “We are on high alert here,” said Moby Solangi, the institute’s director. “When we see something strange like this happen to a large group of dolphins, which are at the top of the food chain, it tells us the rest of the food chain is affected.”
Mr Solangi said that scientists from his organisation had performed full necropsies – the animal equivalent of autopsies – on about one-third of the dead calves. “The majority of the calves were too decomposed to conduct a full necropsy, but tissue samples were collected for analysis,” he said. So far the examinations have been inconclusive.
The spill was the greatest ever in the US – 20 times as big as the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989 – and initially it was thought it would prove the worst US environmental disaster, imperiling the rich wildlife of the gulf’s semi-tropical waters.
By the end of last year about 7,000 dead creatures had been collected, including more than 6,000 birds and 600 sea turtles. But this compares with the figure of perhaps 250,000 seabirds killed as a result of the March 1989 Exxon disaster.
Turtles now world’s most endangered species
COMMENT: I recently visited another the Chinese city of Kungming where anyone can buy a tiny ‘cute’ turtle swimming around inside a tiny plastic bowl… It’s a toy. But read on, in THE INDEPENDENT today…
Turtles and tortoises are now the most endangered group of vertebrate animals, with more than half of their 328 species threatened with extinction, according to a new report.
Their populations are being depleted by unsustainable hunting, both for food and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, by large-scale collection for the pet trade, and by the widespread pollution and destruction of their habitats, according to the study Turtles In Trouble, produced by a coalition of turtle conservation groups.
The result is that their plight has never been greater, and the world’s 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles will become extinct in a few decades without concerted conservation efforts, the report says.
Asia is the worst affected region; of the 25 most endangered turtles, more than two thirds (17) are from Asia, a result of decades of massive exploitation. “For example, in just one market in Dhaka, Bangladesh, close to 100,000 wild caught turtles are butchered for consumption during a one-day religious holiday each year,” the report adds.
It goes on: “Furthering the problem is a lucrative international black market trade in pet turtles and tortoises that has escalated prices of some of the more rare species into the tens of thousands of dollars. Rumours even exist that some of the rarest Asian species are now commanding prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The world’s 328 species are divided into 263 fresh water and terrestrial turtles, and 58 species of tortoises (plus seven sea turtles which are not covered in detail by the report). With up to 54 per cent of the total considered threatened, turtles and tortoises are at a much higher risk of extinction, the report says, than other vertebrates such as birds, mammals, sharks and rays or even amphibians – which are usually considered the most endangered grouping.
“Turtles are disappearing fast and we are dealing with one of the most significant wildlife crises of our lifetime,” says Rick Hudson, President of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) http://www.turtlesurvival.org/. Several species are down to just a handful of remaining individuals.
No. 1 on the list is the Pinta Island tortoise, one of the Galapagos tortoises species that contributed to Charles Darwin’s theories on “natural selection”. Sadly, only a single male of this species, “Lonesome George”, remains alive today, and the report comments: “Ironically, Darwin and other travellers often ate many of the islands’ tortoises and released rats, goats and other animals, which significantly contributed to their decline.”
Close behind is the Red River giant softshell turtle of China and Vietnam, weighing more than 250lbs with a shell more than three feet long. With only four animals left, the stakes have never been higher. Some species are in danger of disappearing before scientists even find out where they live. Zhou’s box turtle (the 6th most endangered) has occasionally appeared in the turtle markets of China, but to date no one has located a wild population.
The report, Turtles in Trouble, can be downloaded at the link below.
http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Top%2025/Top_25+_Turtles_in_Trouble_2011.pdf
Five under threat
Sulawesi forest turtle This semi-aquatic animal is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and was originally used in Chinese food in the early 1990s. Habitat destruction has reduced the forest cover on which it depends for survival.
River terrapin With males exhibiting striking seasonal breeding colours, these unusual and attractive turtles have now all but vanished.
Ploughshare tortoise One of the rarest tortoises in the world, there are now only a few hundred left in Madagascar.
Roti island snake-necked turtle This freshwater turtle is found on the tiny island of Roti in south-eastern Indonesia.
Geometric tortoise This small species is found in low-lying sandy areas of the Western Cape in South Africa.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Turtle-Survival-Alliance/118545041679
Three-quarters of the world’s reefs at risk
Representatives from ZSL’s Conservation and Living Collections teams on Thursday participated in the launch of the Reefs at Risk Revisited report launch.
© ZSL – James GodwinIn the 10 years since the first Reefs at Risk analysis, threats have increased by 30 percent. This includes recent impacts from climate change which causes rising ocean temperatures and coral bleaching.
The most immediate and direct threats arise from local sources, which currently threaten more than 60 percent of reefs (about 150,000 sq km of reefs). Local threats include overfishing, destructive fishing, coastal development and pollution.
Unless steps are taken to reduce local pressure and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, the percent of threatened reefs will increase to more than 90% by 2030 and to nearly all reefs by 2050.
Most vulnerable
The report identifies 27 nations most vulnerable to coral reef degradation and loss in the world (of 108 reef countries assessed). The nine coun¬tries most vulnerable to the effects of coral reef degradation, due to high dependence on coral reefs and low adaptive capacity, are: Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia.
The report makes 60 recommendations for action. ZSL’s coral reef conservation efforts respond to many of these, including supporting and implementing effective marine protected areas (in Chagos and the Philippines through Project Seahorse), building conservation and management capacity in coral reef nations (EDGE Corals, Project Seahorse), supporting the most vulnerable countries (e.g. Philippines through Project Seahorse) and influencing policy (Climate Change programme; GLOBE Action Plan for Coral Reefs).
The report was led by the World Resources Institute, along with the Nature Conservancy, the WorldFish Center, ICRAN, UNEP-WCMC, and GCRMN. One of the report’s authors, Dr Allison Perry, is a former member of the Project Seahorse team.
http://www.zsl.org/conservation/news/three-quarters-of-worlds-reefs-at-risk,796,NS.html
The full report can be downloaded at http://pdf.wri.org/reefs_at_risk_revisited.pdf
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