News Highlight
India’s proposal for transferring Leith’s Soft-shell Turtle from Appendix II to Appendix I of the CITES has been adopted.
Key Takeaway
- The CITES Appendix I listing of this turtle species would ensure that legal international trade does not occur for commercial purposes.
- It would also ensure that international trade in captive-bred specimens only takes place from registered facilities and that higher and more proportionate penalties are provided for illegal trade of the species, said the ministry.
Leith’s Soft-shell Turtle
- About
- Leith’s Softshell Turtle is a large freshwater soft-shelled turtle which is endemic to peninsular India.
- Distribution
- It is restricted to southern peninsular India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu) in the Cauvery, Thungabhadra, Ghataprabha, Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar drainages.
- Threats
- The species has been subject to intensive exploitation over the past 30 years.
- It has been poached and illegally consumed within India. It has also been traded unlawfully abroad for meat and its calipee.
- Protection Status
- IUCN-Critically-Endangered
- The Wildlife Protection Act-Schedule IV
- CITES: Appendix I
CITES
- About
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- CITES is an agreement regulating the movement of specific wild animal and plant species across international borders.
- Launched
- CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- CITES entered into force in 1975.
- Secretariat
- The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP (The United Nations Environment Programme) and is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Appendices
- The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices as per the degree of protection they need:
- Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction.
- Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction but (where trade must be controlled).
- Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country which has asked other CITES parties for assistance in controlling the trade.
Content Source: Hindustan Times