On the 8^th of March 2018, the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) of the Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), in collaboration with the People’s Committee of Son Tay Town and Son Dong Secondary School to organize an Extracurricular program named “Together to conserve Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle”. The day of fun activities was prepared in order to raise the awareness of local people, especially local students, about the last individual of Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus Swinhoei) confirmed in Vietnam. More than 700 students and teachers enjoyed the event. The activity was divided into three sections: Introduction / Talent, Case management and Eloquence. There were three teams, namely, The Mischievous Turtles, The Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle and The baby Turtle, which all took part. All the teams were enthusiatic and creative while acting out sories based aound the giant turtle species, an individual of which lived in a Hanoi lake until its death in January 2016 and was considered a sacred and magical animal in Vietnam.

With scoring from a team of judges it was finally The Mischievous Turtles who won first prize with a total score of 85, with the two other teams in joint second place with the same score of 82.5.

We would like to thank Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF), the British Chelonia Group (BCG) and IUCN for supporting this event.

Press release by Hoang Thi Phuong Thao – ATP
Date: 19^th March 2018

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