Source : New Kerala, India, 08 May '06
By : New Kerala
  

The airport’s surveillance team intercepted Abdul Razaak, an Indian national travelling to Bangkok on suspicion and seized the endangered animals.

“When the baggage was opened our officer found it contained 197 star tortoise. All were neatly packed in the baggage. These kind of items cannot be taken out, these are banned,” said C. Rajan, Commissioner of Customs, Chennai airport.

The tortoises have been handed over to the state forest department for further action.

Ranjan said that the adult tortoises could fetch 1,000 rupees each in the illegal market.

The star tortoises, named for the distinctive green and yellow star marking on their shells, are an extremely rare species and breed mostly in southern India but their demand as exotic pets and in some case as delicacy has been soaring in the international market.

India has banned their trade under the 1972 wildlife protection act but the huge profit margin and lax laws are increasingly luring poachers to the trade.

The rare species are land-dwelling and feed on succulent materials. Most of them are found in semi-arid zones in the southern and northwestern parts of India.