Hà Đình Đức, a Vietnamese biologist, lecturer and conservation advocate known for researching and protecting the turtle that lives in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake, died on August 7, 2026, Lao Động reported. The report gave his age as 87, while his recorded March 23, 1940, birth date indicates he was 86.
He graduated in zoology from Hanoi General University in 1963 and stayed on as a lecturer, working in biology for more than 40 years. His research included monkeys and gray cattle.
He first saw the turtle surface on March 15, 1991, and began sustained research on it. On February 15, 1992, he wrote against a plan to remove sediment from Hoan Kiem Lake and replace its water, warning that the work could damage the turtle’s habitat. On March 3, the chairman’s office relayed an order not to proceed with the dredging and water replacement while the proposal was reviewed.
In 2000, he proposed the scientific name Rafetus leloii for the turtle; the name appeared in the journal Archaeology that year. The turtle’s status as a separate species remained unsettled and required further study.
After he urged Hanoi to respond to the turtle’s injuries and deteriorating lake conditions, city officials ordered an emergency effort to capture and treat it. Officials treated the turtle in artificial pools from April 3 through July 12, 2011, before returning it to Hoan Kiem Lake in good health. In 2012, Hanoi gave him its Outstanding Citizen of the Capital honor for protecting the turtle and researching the city’s cultural history.
