Unravel the truth Behind India's Star Attraction: Indian Star Tortoise

The Indian Star Tortoise, (Geochelone elegans) is the most common tortoise species that is a victim of the illegal wildlife trade.

The illegal trade in wildlife is a big and rapidly expanding business, with global profits estimated to be worth $8 to $10 billion US dollars each year. This has severe negative impacts on wild populations, leading to biodiversity loss and the introduction of invasive species and diseases.

There are three populations of Indian star tortoises – the northwest population found in Gujarat and Rajasthan in India, and a small area in southeastern Pakistan. These tortoises grow large and bumpy and are famous for their unique star-like striking yellow patterns on their shells, which serves as camouflage.

However, this adaptation isn’t much defence against poachers and instead is what makes them an increasingly popular “pet” and target for illegal wildlife trade.  

The survival of these star tortoises is under threat by a booming illegal trade that keeps growing due to the international demand for them as exotic pets.

For centuries, in Gujarat and other rural areas in India, these star tortoises were being openly kept as pets in many homes, primarily because their owners considered them to be good omens, bringing good luck and fortune.

They were also commonly found in religious temples due to the fact that the animal is seen as a spiritual symbol and is “believed to represent an incarnation of the Hindu God ‘Vishnu’”, one of the three central gods in the religion, who was recognised as the preserver and protector of the universe.

The star tortoise’s status in the wild was last assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a species of “least concern” in 2000 as it was not thought to be threatened with extinction in any of its range countries at that time.

However, a team of researchers suggests the Indian star tortoise is a threatened species. Dr. Neil D'Cruze of Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, leader of the research study, recommends the Indian star tortoise be placed on the IUCN Red List as a precaution.

The star tortoise is not considered endangered as of now, but it is on its way to being listed as “vulnerable” which is just a step away from endangered.

Over the span of just 2014, at least 55,000 wild Indian star tortoise individuals were being poached from just a single trade hub in southern India. And in 2017 alone, over 6,000 individuals were confiscated in 11 seizures. The number of tortoises being traded has increased up to six times compared to a decade ago.

In the rural areas of India, forest-dwelling communities in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh snatched over thousands of baby and juvenile tortoises from the wild as they are smaller and lighter and therefore easier to smuggle.

These villagers then sell them to urban traders for a sum of 50 to 300 Indian rupees, which only means each animal is sold for $1 to $5 US dollars. The traders will then sell them on to middlemen for five or six times as much.

Many of these tortoises will be smuggled out of India and sent to Bangladesh, Thailand, Dubai, China, Malaysia, and Singapore in horrifying conditions to be sold to uneducated owners who most likely do not have any idea what these tortoises have been through.  

Most of these shipments go undetected and it is the tortoises that suffer. The animals are often wrapped in cloth and packed into suitcases, or sometimes they are also placed into boxes covered with a top layer of other legal products such as fruits, vegetables, fish, and crustaceans.

Many do not survive the long and torturous journey due to malnutrition, suffocation or due to the overwhelming stress of confinement. Diseases also spread quickly since they are packed into close quarters.

The Indian star tortoise is included in the Schedule II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which allows the import and export of the species, provided an export permit is obtained by the country that is sourcing these animals.

India, however, is excluded from this. So in order to safeguard its wild populations, the star tortoise has received protection as a Schedule IV list species of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 for over 40 years. This makes the possession or trade in this species wither within or from India illegal.

But despite this, researchers have found evidence of illegal unchecked international trade involving these start tortoises. In particular, they have found large discrepancies between the number of animals reported as being destined for Thailand, and the number of animals exported from Thailand.

“Despite being protected in India since the 1970's, legal 'loopholes' in other Asian countries such as Thailand and China appear to undermine India's enforcement efforts," explains Mr. Gajender Sharma, India's Director at World Animal Protection, "They are smuggled out of the country in confined spaces, it's clear there is little or no concern about the welfare of these reptiles."

Thailand has laws protecting native turtles and tortoises. However, as a non-indigenous species, the Indian star tortoise is not currently protected under Thailand’s Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act (WARPA). So these tortoises would be legal in Thailand the moment a trafficker is able to smuggle them out of India and through Thai customs and it can be extremely difficult to identify illegally traded wild sourced tortoises once they have been smuggled into the country.

Along the way, traffickers will do all they can to smuggle the illegal animals through customs. Sometimes they acquire falsified paperwork indicating the tortoises were captive-bred. This makes it easier to trade the tortoises to America and Europe where the enforcement of wildlife laws are stricter.

To help save these beautiful tortoises from extinction and close the “loophole”, wildlife experts are calling for better cooperation between national enforcement agencies and for Thailand to ban the privilege of private ownership by extending its domestic laws to also cover non-native species.