Indian Star Tortoises
Context: Forest officials seize 414 live Indian Star Tortoises.
Indian Star Tortoises
- They are protected under the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The Indian star tortoise a threatened species of tortoise found in dry areas and scrub forest in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- This species is quite popular in the exotic pet trade, which is the main reason it is endangered.
- The Indian star tortoise was upgraded to CITES Appendix I in 2019 (threatened with extinction) by full consensus among all member states (of CoP18 with 183 countries), giving it the highest level of international protection from commercial trade.
- Under the IUCN list, it is listed as critically endangered.