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The capture, capture and sex determination of the Hoan Kiem turtle is part of the Plan 200 of the Hanoi People’s Committee on the Conservation of Sin-hoe (Hoan Kiem) species in Dong Mo and Xuan Khanh lakes in the period. 2018-2020, guidance for 2030, has been approved by the Hanoi People’s Committee.
At the end of 2018, when Plan 200 was issued, authorities and conservation organizations planned to catch and capture Hoan Kiem turtle individuals in Dong Mo Lake. According to Mr. Hoang Van Ha, an officer with the Asian Turtle Program (ATP ), the situation faced many challenges because this is the first time in Vietnam and in the world that an individual Hoan Kiem turtle has been caught. nature. Not to mention, Dong Mo Lake has an area of up to 1400ha with many nooks and deep waters. The Hoan Kiem tortoise has a mysterious and wild habit, often spending a lot of time diving in deep water.
The veterinary team sampled individual Hoan Kiem tortoises for genetic analysis. Photo: ATP.
Since early 2019, with technical support from the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Hanoi Fisheries Department has held many consultation and evaluation meetings aimed at building technical methods; conduct additional surveys of the lake area and select trap locations.
Has shared, the authorities and experts have made many plans for the tests. For May 2019, a workshop was held to consult experts in the capture and capture of the Hoan Kiem turtle. After many discussions, studies and tests, the working group decided to apply all three options at the same time: deep water trap, dredging net and 3 layer net.
A group of divers from the Fisheries Research Institute was also present to inspect the bottom of Dong Mo Lake and Xuan Khanh Lake, where two Vietnamese Hoan Kiem turtles live.
After completion of the project, the plan to catch and trap the Hoan Kiem turtle is planned in April 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic affected this plan because the veterinary team and international experts were unable to come to Vietnam. After many delays, in September 2020, the field team comprised of local fishermen, officials from the Hanoi Department of Fisheries, IMC and WCS spent weeks to free the nets and locate the area of the traps. Capture, be sure to observe turtles in an area of 90ha separated by a net, instead of 1,400ha of the entire lake area.
On October 22, 2020, the turtle was spotted next to the net fence and the team quickly caught it and placed it in a temporary aquarium on a small island in the lake. Within hours, veterinarians from WCS, ATP / IMC, and international veterinarians from the Four Paws Viet Bear Rescue Center were present, with ultrasonic equipment for sampling and sex determination. this individual.
With the urgency and close coordination of the groups (Capture Teams and Animal Care and Health), on October 23, 2020 the health of the individual turtle was reviewed, an ultrasound scan was performed, chip removal, samples were collected to identify species for future conservation planning and weighed 86 kg and 1 m long. Immediately after that, the individual was returned to the lake the same day.
After the trap has successfully captured the Hoan Kiem tortoise in Dong Mo Lake, the Task Force plans to catch the remaining Hoan Kiem tortoise in Dong Mo Lake and the Hoan Kiem tortoise in Xuan Khanh Lake with hope. I hope to get the job done next spring. According to the ATP representative, the capture and sex determination of the Hoan Kiem tortoise in Vietnam will be a prerequisite for the species breeding and conservation plan in the coming years.
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