Yangtze softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei)

easily the rarest animal I have ever seen!! (And the sole reason I visited Suzhou Zoo, which houses two of just four living individuals remaining in the entire world). Not very good photos because the animal was at the far side of the pool (they had the only large enclosures at the zoo) and the pool is surrounded by glass windows which is good for the animals but not so good for photos. October 2013 background information here: http://www.turtlesurvival.org/component/taxonomy/term/summary/95/7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangtze_giant_softshell_turtle And see also on Zoochat: http://www.zoochat.com/65/hope-yangtze-giant-softshell-turtle-327253/