Six Indian star tortoises seized from an aquarium

Vadodara: Six Indian star tortoises were seized by the forest officials with the help of Wildlife SOS and Gujarat Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) from city’s Mandvi area.
On basis of a tip-off, an undercover operation was conducted at the Blue Star aquarium by forest officials who sent in a decoy customer to the shop and the owner was paid a token amount and asked to deliver two tortoises. When the delivery was confirmed, a team of forest officers nabbed the culprit.
“During interrogation, the shop owner revealed to the authorities that he was in possession of four more tortoises. We recovered the others from his residence and handed them to the forest department,” said Raj Bhavsar, project coordinator at Wildlife SOS.
The unique pattern and their beauty makes Indian star tortoises target of illegal pet-trade and black market. The Indian star tortoise is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS said, “Illegal poaching of the tortoises has led to rapid decline in its population over the past 20 years.”