Travelers on an Endangered Species Quest

Photo Credit: Suzhou Zoo; Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei)

Bullet proof glass, surveillance camera and armed guards? China has a reputation of guarding its Panda bears, but how about protecting another almost-extinct species? Known as “China Girl”, the last female Yangtze giant soft-shelled turtle resides in the Suzhou Zoo in China. Initially “China Girl” had called the Changsha Zoo home.

There are just four of these turtle species known - three males and one female - and China recently attempted to breed the turtle to protect its survival, but its attempt was met with failure. Unfortunately, “pollution and hunting almost erased the Yangtze turtles,” as reported in an Associated Press article. Of the four, one of the males is still in its wild habitat.

“This is a story of hope for a species truly on the brink,” said Colin Poole the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Asia Programs.

Travelers venture to China to see its infamous Pandas and China is attempting to preserve other animals as well for the delight of tourists. According to the Associated Press, about 50 percent of China’s mammal species are endangered.

Listed at the top of the World Conservation Union’s Red List, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle is the most critically endangered turtle in the world, according to a Turtle Survival Alliance release.

The Chinese, nor are other animal advocates, giving up as there are plans to re-attempt the species-saving breeding next year.

Photo Credit: Suzhou Zoo; South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)

The Suzhou Zoo is also home to the world’s largest South China Tiger breed of eight males and six females. South China Tiger tops the list of the world’s ten most endangered fauna species, with only 47 found throughout the world but can hardly be seen in the wilderness.

Opened to the public in 1954, the Suzhou Zoo’s purpose was to display various rare wild animals, and communicate and popularize science and knowledge about the wild life, according to the Zoo’s Web site.  At the same time, the Zoo also aims at protecting the relocated wild animals which are at the verge of extinction. The Suzhou Zoo has gradually renovated the original cages in an eco-friendly way, and visitors may further understand how to build a harmony among human beings, wild animals and the natural environment when they appreciate these animals. Currently, it contains over 500 animals in around 80 species.

Per the zoo’s Web site, as described in historical files, the current location of Suzhou Zoo was once a temple in Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) and then the funeral home in construction of zoo with the history dating back to around 1162A.D.  The turtle pond in the Zoo is the heritage from the Free Capture Pond at the Temple in Southern Song Dynasty (with one soft-shell turtle, while only three are alive in Suzhou including “China Girl”).