Customs officials seize rare tortoises in Chennai
Chennai:
The custom officials seized at least 1460 star tortoises, worth 33.33
thousand dollars, from a Malaysian passenger at the Chennai airport on
Wednesday. The airport surveillance team intercepted Loh Seng Hong, who
was allegedly trying to smuggle the rare tortoises to Kuala Lumpur. On
the same day, at least 1982 'red-eared slider turtles' were seized from
an Indian national who had arrived from Singapore. The man did not have
a quarantine certificate and a valid import license, and therefore the
turtle variety could not be allowed into India. Both the varieties have
been handed over to the state wildlife authorities for further action.
"These are of course series of seizures we have made. The passenger as
well as the star tortoises will be handed over to wild life authority
for further action. This is the biggest seizure in the recent past and
this is the first case involving a foreigner," said C. Rajan, Commissioner
of Customs, Chennai airport. Star tortoise, named for the distinctive
green and yellow star marks on its shell, is an extremely rare species
and dwells mainly in southern India, but its demand as exotic pets and
in some case as delicacy has been soaring in the international market.
India has banned trade of tortoise under the 1972 Wildlife Protection
Act. 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.
- Sept 13, 2006
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