IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

Indian Star Tortoises

19th January, 2021 Environment

Context: Forest officials seize 414 live Indian Star Tortoises.

Indian Star Tortoises

  1. They are protected under the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
  2. The Indian star tortoise a threatened species of tortoise found in dry areas and scrub forest in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
  3. This species is quite popular in the exotic pet trade, which is the main reason it is endangered.
  4. 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.
  5. Under the IUCN list, it is listed as critically endangered.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/forest-officials-seize-414-live-indian-star-tortoises-two-from-odisha-arrested-in-east-godavari/article33601312.ece?homepage=true