Relatives of Sword Lake Turtle are at risk of

Dong Mo tortoise, the rare individual left among the turtles of the same species in Sword Lake, may escape its current habitat due to rising water.

The Asian Turtle Conservation Program (ATP) said that these days, when Dong Mo Lake is released, the turtle in the lake is in danger of being swept out.

"Turtles can escape when the four dams are opened to release water. Once again this turtle faces the risk of being destroyed," said Pham Van Thong, ATP officer.

Dong Mo Turtle. (Photos provided by ATP)

In November 2008, the historic rain made Dong Mo lake water rise and overflow the dam, causing the dam to be erupted and water from the lake to flow out like flood. Giant turtles have escaped the water stream to the dam, fortunately the conservation officials and people have rescued the precious turtles after it was captured by a group of people.

Then, to prevent the turtle from escaping and the risk of being hunted, ATP placed a temporary screen with a width of 60m and a depth of 7m in front of the new dam.

However, the water level in Dong Mo has now risen up to 20m (up to 21m as overflow), the above net has been submerged below the surface about 2 meters. To keep turtles in the lake, ATP has placed a bamboo fence and a temporary screen, about 50 meters from the spillway inside the lake.

"If the water level continues to increase, this barrier becomes useless because it only rises from the water about 20-30cm and is very weak , " Thong said.

Additional nets to block turtles are also flooded. (Photos provided by ATP)

"Tich River Irrigation Company, the unit in charge of operating Dong Mo dam, said that it will overflow at the water level of 20.5m. At that time, the fence and net will be easily swept away because of the strong discharge of water, then not a thing to prevent turtles from staying in the lake, " Thong added.

Before this situation, ATP proposed two options. One is to build a solid fence with concrete pillars and a large eye mesh to prevent turtles from leaving the lake. The second option is to use a more robust net, such as a net used to catch turtle Lake Sword, placed in front of the dam.

International Conservation Organization (CI) identifies a large soft-shell turtle in Dong Mo belonging to Hoan Kiem Turtle. According to CI's report released last year, there are only four individuals left in the world today, including two in China and two in Vietnam (one in Dong Mo and one in Guom Lake). Hoan Kiem Turtle tops the list of 10 endangered turtles at the world's most endangered level.