This may be part of the reason why it is so difficult to positively identify and confirm wild sightings of this species. Behavior Дespite its massive size and distinctive appearance, this species is extremely secretive and only rarely comes up to breathe, largely preferring to stay submerged deep underwater. In July 2013 National Geographic reported that in the sixth breeding season for the Suzhou mating pair, 80 eggs have been laid, but none was fertile. The move was coordinated by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Turtle Survival Alliance. The female, who is over 80 years old, was said to settle in well after her 1000-kilometre (600-mile) move, and biologists were optimistic for breeding success. ДЄ fertile female from the Changsha Zoo was introduced to the only known male in China, a 100-year-old individual in the Suzhou Zoo, in 2008. It nests at night and during the morning. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle may lay from 20 to more than 80 eggs. swinhoei eats fish, crabs, snails, water hyacinth, frogs, and green rice leaves. In 2021, another female was found in Dong Mo Lake. On April 13, 2019, the only female turtle in Suzhou Zoo was reported dead shortly after the latest fertilization process. In April 2011, it was captured because it had open sores (possibly due to refuse and pollution in the lake, injuries from fishing hooks or other turtles) that needed to be treated. Only a single turtle was believed to be left in the lake. In 1999, 2000, and 2005, turtles re-emerged from Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi and were seen by a large audience and caught on film. Only three living specimens are known one at Dong Mo Lake Son Tay in Hanoi, Vietnam, one at Xuan Khanh Lake near Hanoi, Vietnam, and one in Suzhou zoo in China.ДЄ specimen at the Beijing Zoo died in 2005, and another one at the Shanghai Zoo died in 2006 both of them were caught at Gejiu in the 1970s. The last known specimen caught in the wild in Vietnam was in 2020. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle has been known to inhabit the Yangtze River and Lake Tai, situated on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, in eastern China, and Gejiu, Yuanyang, Jianshui and Honghe in Yunnan Province in southern China. The male is generally smaller than the female and has a longer, larger tail. Its head can measure over 20В cm (7.9В in) in length and 10В cm (3.9В in) in width. However, along the curve carapace lengths of up to 106В cm (42В in) have been reported and it is possible for the largest specimens (largely reported in Vietnam) to have weighed up 220 to 247.5В kg (485 to 546В lb). Its carapace, or shell, can grow larger than 50В cm (20В in), with the largest shell that could be found having measured 86В cm (34В in) in length. turtles weighing over 10В kg (22В lb)) that could be collected in the Yangtze River per one study was 25В kg (55В lb), although not all specimens were definitively identified as Rafetus. The average size of large turtle specimens (i.e. It measures over 100В cm (39В in) in overall length and to 70В cm (28В in) in width, and can easily weigh up to 70вЂ“100В kg (150вЂ“220В lb). Although hard to compare due to the extremely small number of remaining specimens, its average and maximum sizes seem to exceed other large freshwater turtles such as alligator snapping turtles and related giant softshells such as other Rafetus and Pelochelys species. This critically endangered species holds the title of being the largest freshwater turtle in the world. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle is noted for its deep head with a pig-like snout and dorsally placed eyes. 4.1 Scientific description and systematics.A wild female was discovered in Vietnam on October 22, 2020. The female of the last breeding pair died at Suzhou Zoo in China in April 2019. It may be the largest living freshwater turtle in the world. Following the deaths of a wild individual in Vietnam in January 2016 and a captive individual in China in 2019, and it is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. Only five to six living individuals are known, one in China (captive) and three to four in Vietnam (wild). The species is endemic to eastern and southern China and northern Vietnam. The Yangtze giant softshell turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei simplified Chinese: ж–‘йі– traditional Chinese: ж–‘й±‰ pinyin: bДЃnbiД“), also known as the Red River giant softshell turtle, the Shanghai softshell turtle, the speckled softshell turtle, and Swinhoe's softshell turtle, is an extremely rare species of turtle in the family Trionychidae.

Rafetus turtle update 2018