The turtle weighs in at just over one ounce.

The Black Marsh Turtle, is the first offspring bred from a group of 10,000 rescued turtles confiscated from a ship in Hong Kong in 2001.

The eight-week-old baby turtle is currently no bigger than a walnut and weighs in at 1.058oz (30 grams).

Zoo staff caring for the turtle say it appears to be lively and healthy although its sex is not yet known.

Bristol Zoo Gardens was part of the rescue effort, nursing individual turtles back to life after they were discovered in appalling conditions.

Human consumption

Tim Skelton, Head of Reptiles at Bristol Zoo, said he was very pleased to have played such an active role in the rescue mission.

He said many Asian turtle species have been over-exploited for years because of the high prices they command.

"The Golden Coin Box Turtle is quite literally worth its weight in gold.

"Several hundreds of thousands of turtles are traded annually in China for human consumption.

"As a result, several turtle species are likely to become extinct. Conservation breeding is the only way that we can safeguard populations of these highly threatened species for the future," he added.