Sri Lanka emerges as a smuggling hub for India's star tortoises

The Indian star tortoise is the most smuggled tortoise species in the world, with thousands trafficked annually smuggled out from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan despite a 2019 total ban on the international trade in the species. While India continues to be the main country of origin for wild-caught star tortoises, Sri Lanka has in recent years become both a prominent source country and transit hub for trafficking networks that move the animals to East and Southeast Asia. Mongabay India writers Malaka Rodrigo and Pragati Prava report