Grasp the giant net of Ho Guom turtle in Son Tay

Researchers and conservationists of the Asian Turtle Conservation Program have officially confirmed that the giant tortoise in Xuan Khanh Lake is the legendary Ho Guom turtle.

On the afternoon of April 12, Mr. Le Trung Tuan phoned me, announcing that his group of fishermen had caught the giant 'turtle tool' at Xuan Khanh Lake (Son Tay town). The information was too sudden, shocking, so I immediately found this large lake.

People gathered on the dam, waiting for the results. The group of fishermen with motorboats runs up and down the net fins. Mr. Chu Trong Khanh, Deputy Director of Suoi Hai Fisheries and Tourism Service, dragged a small boat to paddle, took me to the fins net area, near the coastal bamboo bush, to find traces of giant giant turtles net.

Multi-layer nets to catch giant turtles at Xuan Khanh Lake.

Mr. Hoang Van Ha and Nguyen Tai Thang are two officers of the Asian Turtle Conservation Program, which are on the shore, next to bamboo dust. Fishermen (fishermen use fish searching in the sea) to track the movement of a turtle, who holds a binoculars on every toothpick and has a camera in his hand, to capture when giant turtles emerge from water surface.

According to Mr. Khanh, this is the first time the company has brought the modern fin net system to fish in Xuan Khanh Lake and it is interesting to face the giant tortoise, which the people here call the prize.

The psychic Le Trung Tuan has bid for both Suoi Hai and Xuan Khanh lakes, to release fish and invest 5 billion VND net from Norway, to catch fish more effectively, so that touching giant turtles Giant is understandable.

Recently, Mr. Le Trung Tuan called me on Suoi Hai Lake, to meet fishing workers and people living by the lake, to learn about the animals he respected as 'turtle tools'. According to him, both Suoi Hai and Xuan Khanh lakes still have this giant species of Ho Guom turtle.

Many workers, fishermen on the lake, met this giant turtle floating on the water. In particular, there are dozens of nets that lost a few tens of tons of fish, because the giant tournaments tore wildly torn nets.

Mr. Cao Xuan Ty, 70 years old, used to be a fisherman in Suoi Hai, although retired but still directed a group of fishermen in Suoi Hai and Xuan Khanh lakes to help Mr. Le Trung Tuan. Mr. Ty said that the giant tortoise with armored claws with razors, scratched a stroke, any net would be dissolved. There were so many giant turtles in the net, there were many tears that were several meters long.

According to Mr. Ty, many giant turtles also aim to gather fish in the combined net for the spoils of the fishermen. They have the power to be champion, so they are not afraid of nets, but just rushed to bite, eat well, then break the net. A lot of nets pulled up, scooping up a dozen fish that had lost their body half as sweet as a guillotine.

Mr. Cao Xuan Ty.

He himself caught many giant turtles weighing over 1 quintal. The biggest child was weighed up to 2.8 kg, not sure how many hundred years old. Suoi Hai Lake is 1,200 hectares wide, vast waves of water, so there are still huge turtles hidden at the bottom, hiding in the islands is very high possibility.

Having just set up a net, Mr. Cao Xuan Ty said: 'Xuan Khanh Lake was very big in the past, we caught it all the time. People often solve the problem of cooking bananas with beans. However, for the last two decades, no one has caught any children. The fact that there is a big tournament here, I know it a long time, but not yet seen. Today, I instruct you to let go of the net, then get the big prize right away. '

According to Mr. Ty, about 13 o'clock on April 12, when the grids were collapsed to collect the fish, the net side was 30m away from bamboo dust and there were two strips of toothpick running around in the net. Looking at this strip, Mr. Ty suspected of hitting the giant turtle. This turtle, when it moves, runs on the mud. The two sides scratched under the mud, creating two strips of toothpick. Look at the distance between the two swollen strips of water, experienced people like him will know the weight of this turtle.

Knowing that there was a giant turtle in the net, Mr. Ty instructed the group of fishermen to stop their work, to keep the water still, waiting to see its movement.

The image of "Turtle Lake Sword" is very big at Xuan Khanh Lake.(Source: Asian Turtle Conservation Program).

A moment later, the giant tortoise is constantly floating on the surface of the water, within the siege of the net. Mr. Ty pointed down to the boat and said: 'His head is nearly as big as a thermos, his back is as big as a boat, weighing over 1 quintal'.

At that time, the turtle constantly floated to the surface of the water, then ran to the bottom of the lake, apparently looking for a way out. It stuck its nose up and breathed, then dived very quickly, making it unclear how the two officials of the Asian Turtle Conservation Program filmed.

When the turtle does not rise again, the group of fishermen tie a laterite into the parachute, then drop it into the lake, just lift up the stone and drop it. The stone constantly fell on the back of the turtle, making it run away.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Ha, official of the Asian Turtle Conservation Program, it was precisely discovered that the giant soft-shell turtle of the Lake Sword Turtle in Xuan Khanh Lake, however, had caught it, but The ability to catch is extremely difficult. Because the lake is very deep, there are many obstructions, so it just falls flat on the mud surface, it is a passing net, it cannot be caught.

Mr. Hoang Van Ha and Nguyen Tai Thang themselves have been stationed in this lake since 2012 to trace this turtle and today, the day the Asian Turtle Conservation Program has published results, including photos and DNA samples, the turtle sticks to the net.

Mr. Nguyen Tai Thang has many years of "recovery" in Ho Xuan Khanh and now he affirms that there is a huge individual prize here.

The desire of the researchers, if caught the turtle, will take it to Dong Mo, to pair with the turtle living in the lake. However, Mr. Le Trung Tuan protested that idea, because according to him, Dong Mo lake was too polluted. He himself tested water samples in Dong Mo with the purpose of bidding water surface and found that the lead content exceeded the permitted level by 60 times. According to Mr. Tuan, the culprit is golf courses, daily absorbing chemicals into the lake. That's why he did not bid for Dong Mo Lake to develop Ba Vi brand of clean fish.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tai Thang, recently, the research team has taken a lot of water samples in Xuan Khanh Lake, where turtles often reside, to send to the US for analysis.'In other words, where the turtle resides, it will excrete much water, and in the water sample in that area will contain a lot of genetic information, so just get the sample. water contains genes, it will determine whether the lake has the presence of turtles correctly and almost absolutely absolutely, '- Thang said.

And according to Mr. Thang, in addition to capturing images, observing by reality, and testing genes through water samples, it is confirmed that Xuan Khanh lake has definitely got a prize (scientific name Rafetus swinhoei), also has another name. is Hoan Kiem turtle , considered the most endangered, precious and rare turtle in the world.

The author of the prize in bronze, is simulated as true, the right size, at Tay Vien Tu temple (Suzhou city, Jiangsu, China).

Thus, all over the world, there have been 4 children, in which Tay Vien Tu temple (Suzhou city, Jiangsu, China) has 2 children, one in Dong Mo lake and one in Xuan Khanh Lake.

Mr. Le Trung Tuan said: ' Although we re-contracted the lake to develop Ba Vi brand of clean fish, we consider turtle Sword as a treasure, a mascot, so it will be very protective. Only thing, next to Suoi Hai and Xuan Khanh lakes, Xuan Son dumping ground is huge, discharging dirty water on both lakes day and night. If this is not prevented early, not only are two beautiful lakes polluted, but the turtles of the Sword Lake sooner or later die with them. '

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