Sri Lankan customs have seized 206 live star tortoises, which are listed as an endangered species, that were being smuggled to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia yesterday (Feb. 11) at the Air Cargo Exports Terminal of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.

The officials of the Biodiversity, Cultural and National Heritage Protection Division of Sri Lanka Customs had managed to seize the six boxes labelled as “dried seafood” in which the live tortoises were packed, and stuffed inside cloth sacks.

It is reportedly the largest seizure since mid-2015 when a bid to smuggle 124 tortoises was foiled.

The customs officials pointed out that Sri Lankan star tortoises are the same species (Geochelone elegans) as that found in India and Pakistan but have a specific geographic identity.

“It is one of the most beautiful tortoise species found in the world and due to the same reason they have been highly sought after in the illegal pet trade, especially in the South East Asian countries,” they added.

“As a result, the species has become threatened with extinction and included in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of species and also in Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),” the officials added.

According to Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (section 40), an attempt to export any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, coral or invertebrate, eggs, among others without the permission of the Director General of the Wildlife Conservation Department is an offence and also simultaneously violates the Customs Ordinance, the officials expressed.

--With agencies inputs