Is Indian Roofed Turtle Illegal In India

The indian roofed turtle pangshura tecta is a species of turtle in the family geoemydidae.

Is indian roofed turtle illegal in india.

Wildlife authorities in uttarakhand have arrested a teenager from dehradun after he tried to sell indian roofed turtles an exotic species high demand in the illegal pet trade. It is a common pet in the indian subcontinent. It is illegal to keep indian roofed turtles as pets but i only think this is because they are smuggled abroad so therefore they are now a protected species in india. Illegal wildlife harvest and trade is one of the largest illegitimate businesses globally with an estimated annual market value of around us 20 billion and is a growing global biodiversity threat haken 2011 maxwell et al 2016 rosen and smith 2010 unodc 2016 in east and southeast asia there exists a large and growing market for tortoises and freshwater turtles.

We found that the turtles primarily belonged to four species including the roofed turtle three striped roofed turtle crowned river turtle and flapshell turtles responsible for more than 160 conservation research and education projects across india dr. It is found in the major rivers of south asia. Singh leads wcs s india turtle conservation program. It can be distinguished by the distinct roof at the topmost part of the shell.

These freshwater turtle species are protected under india s 1972 wildlife protection act with most of them listed under schedule 1 which is supposed to give them absolute protection and sets the highest penalties for causing any harm. In india despite the fact that sea turtles are protected under the indian wildlife protection act of 1972 under the schedule i part ii they face grave terrorization some of the major fear includes. Indian star tortoise is the most popular species of tortoise as part of the exotic pet trade. And there are 28 turtle tortoise species in india and all are illegal to sell keep as a pet.

The endangered tortoise are found in dry areas and scrub forest in india also in the illegal wildlife trade in india as most trafficked wild animals along with monitor lizard red sand boa and indian pangolin.