Chennai, Sept 7 (BPNS)

The Tamil Nadu forest and wildlife department are on high alert after several incidents of smuggling live Star tortoises were reported. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of Tamil Nadu found that Star tortoises that were smuggled to Kolkotta in a train were recently confiscated and the arrested were from Chennai.

According to sources in the Wildlife department of Tamil Nadu, these live tortoises are smuggled out to South East Asian countries and most of them are kept as pets in households. The smugglers , according to Wild Life crime bureau officials were using Kolkotta as a destination point and from there they take it to North Eastern states and from there to international destinations.

It is to be noted that a large volume of live Star Tortoises was seized from Bangkok and on questioning it was found that they emanated from Chennai.  This led to a detailed investigation by the Wildlife and Forest department authorities and it was found that most of the Star Tortoises that were seized from other places of India had a Chennai connection.

The star tortoise is a protected species under Schedule IV of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972. Generally, when people are caught with live Star Tortoises they are penalized and it is being repeated they will have to pay a hefty fine and will have to term prison term also.

The price of these Star Tortoises varies from place to place. While Star Tortoises are available at prices ranging from Rs 1200 –to 3000 in Mumbai open markets, in international markets like Bangkok the price shoots up by several times.

Highly placed officials in the state wildlife department told BPNS that there will be stringent checking at all four airports of Tamil Nadu to prevent any smuggling of Star Tortoises. The security check-up at railway stations has also been increased to prevent the smuggling of protected wild life species.