For the people of Vietnam, just a glimpse of the giant turtle will bring them good luck for it is said that a symbol of their country’s century-old independence struggle.
With that, hundreds of Vietnamese gathered to Hoan Kiem Lake of Hanoi Tuesday as rescuers made their efforts to save the sick turtle known as the “great grandfather”.
It weighs at about 200 kilograms, stands at 6 foot long and spreads for about 4 feet wide. The turtle was injured by fish hooks and small red eared turtles which previously appeared in the lake.
Wounds were found on its neck as the shell of the old animal had been damaged.
Many Vietnamese had been praying for the recovery of the giant turtle as they consider it sacred as well.
A 66 year old retired soldier named Dang Giao Huan has seen the wounds on the animal when it had surfaced the lake a few days ago.
“It is very precious for Vietnamese”, the retired soldier said on his statement.
He added that the turtle id the holy spirit of their nation as he thought that it was necessary to give it some sort of treatment.
The media consider it a rare creature since only four of its kind exists in the world.
Its significance to Vietnam’s history is much more considered than its rarity.
No one is ever certain about its exact age. According to some Vietnamese however, it aged more than 300 years believing that it was the same turtle which swallowed the Emperor’s Sword to bring it back to the Gods who gave it to9 him to drive away their Chinese enemy. Thus, the lake was known as “The Lake of the Returned Sword”.
Experts on the other hand say it lived for about a century.
The lake had been dirty and waters were seemingly polluted at present. Because of this, a clean up drive was launched by the people of Vietnam to be able to bring back their lake’s beauty and to heal the remaining creatures living at it.