Actor Madhuri Sangita Patil campaigns for the protection of rare Indian star tortoises

MUMBAI: Actor Madhuri Sangita Patil has launched a national digital campaign on social media to protect and stem the rampant smuggling of the rare Indian star tortoises – a highly protected species.

According to Madhuri, the Indian star tortoises are a prized item and smuggling of these creatures has become rampant due to the profits involved.

According to statistics by the Centre for Promoting Indian Economy (CPIE India), each year, nearly 500 to 800 Indian star tortoises are successfully smuggled out of the country, not withstanding the clampdown by authorities.

For example, a 33-year-old man was arrested for allegedly smuggling 20 rare Indian star tortoises in the western suburb of Borivali in Mumbai, police said on Tuesday. Such cases are reported often, but more than 50 percent of them go undetected.

Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap and nabbed the accused from Ganpat Patil Nagar area on Monday, an official from MHB police station said.

According to Madhuri, the smuggling goes on unhindered in spite of arrests and raids by the cops and other authorities, because of the high price these creatures fetch in the international market. The Indian star tortoise is an endangered species and such rampant smuggling could even lead to its extinction in India, she said.

The Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans), is marked as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and has the highest level of protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.