Is Indian Roofed Turtle Illegal In India

It is a common pet in the indian subcontinent.

Is indian roofed turtle illegal in india. 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. Indian star tortoise is the most popular species of tortoise as part of the exotic pet trade. 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. And you shouldn t hold them like that.

It can be distinguished by the distinct roof at the topmost part of the shell. 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. 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 found in the major rivers of south asia.

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. Not wanted to be rude but you should research properly before publishing any blogs. 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. That s clearly is not a map turtle it s indian roofed tent turtle and is illegal to sell keep as a pet.

Singh leads wcs s india turtle conservation program.