Legendary Turtle In Vietnam May Prove to be True

A huge turtle weighing around 400 pounds was found swimming in the waters of Vietnam’s Hoan Kiem Lake. Biologists and scientists from the Cleveland Metropark Zoo identify this rare giant turtle as a Raftus Swinhoei as they followed local villagers’ report of a mythical creature living in the lake.

The rare turtle believed to be the last surviving giant turtle was spotted in Vietnam’s northern Thanh Hoa province. The creature is described as a soft-shelled turtle with a pretty distinctive head. According to the zoo’s curator, “This is one of those mythical species that people always talked about but no one ever saw.”

A Legendary Turtle In Vietnam’s Lake Hanoi

Vietnamese legend tells a story of a huge golden turtle that helped the country fight off Chinese invaders in the 16th century. Rumors about this giant mythical turtle was that this turtle who lives in the deep waters of Northern Vietnam lake bestowed a magical sword to Vietnamese town folks and victory was won over the war against Chinese.

However, in the zoologists and biologists point of view, the turtle is a great scientific discovery. “This is an incredibly important discovery because Swinhoei’s turtle is one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world,” said Vietnam-based coordinator of the U.S. zoo’s Asian Turtle Program, Doug Hendrie.

The Legend of the Turtle Lake

If the legendary “Excalibur” sword was given to King Arthur and thus victory and glory was given to his country, the Legend of the Turtle Lake is similar. A giant turtle is said to be the keeper of the sword and it is said that when danger threatens the country (Vietnam), the keeper of the sword will surface bearing the sword on top of its shell. After the victory, the giant golden turtle said to have re-surfaced and reclaimed the sword from the emperor.

The legendary lake in this legend is the Hoan Kiem Lake which in Vietnam means “Returned Sword” Lake. In great coincidence, in this lake the soft-shelled giant mythical creature was discovered.

The said to be mythical turtle is now being cared for in Hoan Kiem and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo now begins its effort to preserve and protect Asian turtles amid the reports of increased killings to these near to extinction species. In Asia, turtles are being killed for food or for its potency as a medicinal cure.