GURGAON: Four exotic tortoises were rescued from a resort in Sohna by the wildlife department after a Delhi-based animal activist filed a complaint with the Union government against the owner of the resort for allegedly hosting a mini-zoo on its premises.
Wildlife officials, led by inspector Sunil, reportedly rescued the four tortoises — three Indian Star tortoises and one Red-footed tortoise — from the resort on January 2. However, the owner of the resort has not yet been arrested or fined.
Marked as 'vulnerable' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, Indian Star tortoise falls under schedule four in the Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972, and cannot be captured or sold. Red-footed tortoises, on the other hand, are not an endangered species but are protected under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning they may not be exported from their home country without a permit.
"The resort runs a mini-zoo without any approval from the government. Keeping three Indian Star tortoises was a violation of the wildlife protection act. Hence strict legal action must be taken against the resort management and all other protected animals should immediately be rescued," Naresh Kadyan, the activist, said on Monday.
Kadyan wrote to the Union environment, forest and climate change ministry after coming to know about the mini-zoo from a family that visited the resort recently.
When contacted, district forest officer Shyam Sunder told TOI, "I have been informed that a few tortoises have been rescued from a resort in Sohna. If they are part of wildlife, strict action will be taken against the offenders. The wildlife inspector concerned has all the details."
However, the wildlife inspector refused to provide any information about the four rescued tortoises.
Kadyan alleged the wildlife department is trying to bury the case. "The wildlife inspector has kept the tortoises in his custody as far as I know. It is unfortunate that no concrete action has been taken against the resort owner yet," he said.
Legal experts also said that the captivity of Indian Star tortoise is not permitted.
"According to the Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972, the ownership and trading of any animal whose natural habitat is in the wild within the country boundaries are prohibited by law. Also a tortoise is known to live a couple of centuries in its natural habitat, but many a time, it can't survive in captivity due to unhygienic conditions," Narender Chauhan, a lawyer and an animal rights activist, said.
