Guest guest Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 2007/07/05 Indian star tortoises arrive home safely-New Straits Times THIRUVANTHAPURAM (India), Thurs: After almost two months in Malaysia, Indian star tortoises that were seized at the KL International Airport returned home safely on Tuesday on an Indian Airlines flight. The 580 tortoises arrived at the Chennai International Airport after Malaysia's Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department decided to return the dome-shaped endangered species, with star patterns on their shells, to its native land. In April, Malaysian authorities seized the tortoises from an Indian national who smuggled them out of India, which had banned the export of star tortoises. Chennai Customs commissioner C. Rajan said the tortoises were safe and would be returned to the local wildlife authority. " We have sent the tortoises for health checks before they can be returned to the relevant authorities. " Rajan said the tortoises might have been smuggled out from the Bangalore or Cochin airports after Chennai Customs stepped up its vigilance to prevent trafficking of the protected species. " Over the last two years, the number of incidents have declined, but there are still attempts to smuggle tortoises out. " Between 2003 and 2005, the Malay-sian authorities had seized and returned at least 1,000 tortoises from similar species that were smuggled out of India. The star tortoise, which costs between RM50 and RM70, is highly in demand in Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. The Indian authorities have yet to detain anyone in connection with the trafficking. — Bernama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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