Mysterious century-old ‘pearly’ soft-shelled turtle spared from the dinner table, for now

Fishermen in eastern China captured a giant soft-shelled turtle with rare pearl-like growths over its shell on Saturday, according to a local newspaper.

The fate of the oversized creature seemed sealed when the fishermen in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, sold it to a restaurant owner for 1,000 yuan (HK$1,200), the Yangtze Evening News reported.

The buyer, however, told the newspaper that after being told by a turtle expert that the animal could be more than 100 years old, he decided to release it back to nature.

The turtle weighs 10kg and is half a metre in length. It required two strong fishermen to lift it out of the water in the Chu river, where they regularly cast nets for small catch.

Read more: New fossil shows how soft-shelled turtles have barely changed in 120 million years

The turtle drew crowds of curious spectators to the restaurant, where it walked unchained in the front yard, with its unusual size and dozens of pearl-like growths on its shell, which is rare for a local species. The restaurant owner said he would release the creature after people had been given the chance to see it.