Extinct for over 20 years, in 2010, Zhejiang fishermen caught one, and four people watched over it for 24 hours a day for 10 days.

Zhejiang Fishermen Catch Fish at Night, a 27-Jin (about 13.5 kg) Monster Emerges from the Net—Aggressive, Very Aggressive. The Net Was Chewed Through in Several Places. But the Most Shocking Part is, This Creature Has Been Gone from the Area for Exactly 25 Years…

01 Nankexi River Monster Fish

On July 16, 2010, at night, Yongjia fisherman Sun Yinshan was collecting his nets in the Nankexi River when he felt something was off—heavy, unusually heavy.

When he pulled it up, it was a “big softshell turtle,” quite large, struggling wildly in the net. But the more he looked, the more something seemed wrong—its head was too wide, its short beak, and its legs were completely different from a normal softshell turtle.

Suddenly, two words popped into his mind: softshell turtle (鼋).

He had seen one in his teens, but hadn’t encountered one in decades. He remembered clearly—this was a protected animal, no messing around. He quickly put it into the boat’s cabin and called the Fisheries Bureau immediately.

02 Four Groups of People Come to Identify It

The Fisheries Bureau staff arrived quickly. After a preliminary look, they said it was a softshell turtle but didn’t dare confirm outright, so they called in experts.

The experts were cautious, took X-rays at a hospital to examine the skeleton, and still weren’t fully convinced. They then went to Qingtian to compare it with two specimens of softshell turtles. After four rounds of identification, all conclusions were consistent—it’s a softshell turtle, and it’s not going anywhere!

This was a huge achievement. The last time Yongjia saw a softshell turtle was in 1985, when a farmer caught a female weighing over 40 jin (about 20 kg) in the Nankexi River. After that, it disappeared completely.

03 Ten Days Without Leaving the Boat

Once its identity was confirmed, the local authorities immediately arranged for four people to take shifts, guarding the boat 24 hours a day.

Sun Yinshan stayed on the boat for ten full days, eating and living there. The small fish and shrimp that weren’t sold on the boat became the turtle’s food. During the day, to avoid the sun, he would move the boat under the bridge, then return to the dock at night.

They kept watch like this for ten days.

On July 26, the turtle was released back into the Nankexi River.

04 The Water Panda

The softshell turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtle species, with adults measuring 80 to 100 centimeters in length and weighing up to 100 kilograms. It has a large head, protruding eyes, and a deep brown oval shell, which makes it easy to distinguish from common softshell turtles.

They prefer clear river sections over two meters deep, are highly alert, and will dive at the slightest disturbance. In the wild, almost no one can see them, which is why they’re called “water pandas.”

According to a 2000 survey, fewer than 200 wild individuals remain.

Why so few? Habitat destruction is the main reason—water conservancy projects, lake encroachment for farmland, water pollution, and many have been eaten as big softshell turtles. Plus, softshell turtles mature late and have a long reproductive cycle, making population recovery very difficult.

The good news is, in 2014, China achieved artificial breeding of softshell turtles, meaning they can be gradually released to restore the wild populations.

The fact that this turtle appeared again in Yongjia at least shows one thing: the ecology of the Nankexi River can still support them, and softshell turtles still have a chance to survive. Perhaps that’s the most heartening part of this story.