Rare Vietnamese turtles were born in England

A golden-eyed box turtle, one of the planet's rarest turtles, was born in the Bristol Zoo in July and now its body is nearly as big as a matchbox.

>>>Many of Vietnam's rare turtles appear at Chinese markets

Vernon, the name of the central Vietnamese golden box turtle (Cuora bourreti), was born seven weeks ago and is being raised in a special room. Humidity, temperature and other air conditions in the room are adjusted to its ideal level. The zoo staff fed him worms. Currently its mass reaches 28g, while its body length is about 5cm, the BBC reports.

After 7 weeks from birth, the Vernon turtle has the size of matchbox.

Bristol is the first zoo in the UK and the second in Europe to successfully breed Vietnamese box turtles. Previously a zoo in Germany achieved similar achievements. Currently, Bristol zoo has 7 Vietnamese box turtles.

Golden boxed turtles, belonging to the Turtle family, live in shallow swamps, streams, ponds, flooded fields. They are found in the provinces of Yen Bai, Vinh Phu, Hoa Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thua Thien-Hue. Their apricot is tall and rough. Their bibs are made up of two moving pieces. When the head of the turtle comes into the shell tomorrow, it is half-closed in front. So they are called box turtles. An adult can reach a weight of up to one kilogram, body length of 20m. They can live up to 50 years.

The main food of golden boxed turtles is plants, fruits, mollusks, crustaceans. The number of golden forehead turtles has plummeted in recent years due to intense hunting. Currently the golden forehead box turtle is one of the highly endangered species. They are protected by Vietnamese law.