Turtle Lake Sword cannot live long on land

Turtle health is progressing well and can return to the natural environment, but the situation of the lake water is still polluted will make treatment useless. Meanwhile, long-term captivity in the tank to wait for the lake to be renovated will cause turtles to lose their wildlife survival skills.

Dr. Bui Quang Te, team leader of diagnosis and treatment of Sword Lake Turtle, said turtles need to live in a clean water environment to clear soft skin every time it hides under the water.

But the results of analyzing water samples in Sword Lake show that there are many bacteria, fungi, toxic organisms and algae in the lake.

" In order for the Tortoise to return to the water environment of Sword Lake while the cleaning of the lake has not been completed, it means that running for the Tortoise has been useless for a long time. We have proposed to Hanoi City to urgently make clean the water of Sword Lake ", Dr. Te emphasized.

Sword lake turtle is being applied.Photo: Quang Bui.

With the state of health like the current Tortoise, Mr. Qi said, it only takes two to three weeks to be able to let go. But the water of Sword Lake has just been renovated a small area, it is expected to complete this work in two to three months.

However, according to seafood experts, three months is a long period of time and can have a negative impact on the behavior of wildlife.

According to Dr. Nguyen Viet Vinh, a member of the treatment committee, if he kept the turtle in the tank for a long time, he would be familiar with the captive conditions, being fed by humans, and the risk of being domesticated greatly. " Therefore, completing the Sword Lake environment is a prerequisite issue at the moment, " said Dr Vinh.

" Although living in a sanatorium is clean, turtles still lack the natural micronutrients in the mud. That will create a risk of developing new diseases or Tortoises are shocked to return to the natural environment ."

Another factor that worries scientists, is the Turtle Basin of steel, while summer is approaching. " The temperature in steel tanks will rise, endangering turtles," Vinh predicted.

The treatment team for turtles has proposed building a roof over the tank, but the roof cannot guarantee the necessary coolness once the outdoor temperature is high in the summer.

Professor Dang Huy Huynh, chairman of Zoology Association, also said that it is impossible for turtles to live on land. He proposed to accelerate the process of cleaning the lake water environment; annual cleaning of sediment; and prevent waste water from entering the lake from surrounding restaurants; create a place for Tortoise to crawl and rest on the sun.

Another problem that scientists are interested in is the food source for turtles when dropping tools to the lake. According to Mr. Te, Sword Lake water should be cleaned by biological measures to create conditions for fish to live and feed for turtles.

" In the round of catching at the beginning of the month, the towing team members did not see fish in the net, proving that the lake environment was too polluted, the food source for turtles was very inadequate," said Qi. " The important thing when returning turtles to the lake is that we need to ensure food supplies for us ."