In Vietnam, the last female Svaino tortoise, belonging to the family of soft-bodied turtles, died, the New York Post reported.
Svaino turtles have been an endangered species for many years. There are only two individuals of this family left in the world, and both of them are males, so there is practically no hope that the population can be restored, except perhaps with the help of the cloning method.
The body of a female tortoise was found in Dongmo Lake in the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. It was first discovered there in 2020, and this gave scientists hope for the revival of the species.
Soft-bodied turtles have a shell size of more than one meter, and their weight reaches 200 kg.The life span of such turtles is from 80 to 100 years.
The females are usually larger than the males.Once upon a time, there were many soft-bodied turtles on the territory of Vietnam, but due to human economic activity and uncontrolled hunting, their species was almost completely exterminated.