INDIAN STAR TORTOISES

Subject : Environment

Context : Forest Department personnel on Monday seized as many as 414 live endangered Indian star tortoises.

Concept :

Indian star tortoise is found across the Indian sub-continent, more specifically, in the Central and Southern parts of India, in West Pakistan and in Sri Lanka.
Star Tortoises are protected under Schedule IV of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The IUCN has listed it under the vulnerable
The species faces two threats: loss of habitat to agriculture and illegal harvesting for the pet trade.
The Indian star tortoise is the single most confiscated species of freshwater tortoise in the world, according to wildlife-trade watchdog TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC is an international wildlife trade monitoring network.
The tortoise, protected under CITES Appendix I, got a big boost in its protection status, where the illegal international trade of the Indian star tortoises, as well as that of the smooth-coated otter and Asian small-clawed otter, was declared illegal.
Now, trading in these animals will require registration and special permits.
Appendix II still makes allowances for the regulated trade of captive-bred animals, which isn’t something that applies to species protected under Appendix I.