Reptiles Magazine
With the 12 released, 40 more tortoises will soon follow.
February 17, 2021
The Indian star tortoise (
Geochelone elegans), one of the most beautiful tortoises in all of Asia, is sadly disappearing from the India landscape. Escalating illegal poaching of the tortoise has led to its rapid decline over the past 20 years. Though there are multiple reasons for the dwindling population, the primary culprits are poachers and smugglers seeking to fulfill the demand of the illegal international pet trade. The magnitude of the problem is staggering.
In recent years, roughly 25,000 star tortoises have been seized each year at Indian airports alone – an astounding number that still represents only a fraction of the tortoises poached from the wild. Once removed from the wild, the future for these beautiful animals is usually grim. However, this does not always have to be the case. This is the story of 51 tortoises saved from the black market and successfully returned to