In November 2015, the Thane forest department's anti-poaching cell had seized nearly 107 star turtles from various pet shops where they were kept illegally and had handed them all to the Byculla zoo for caretaking. The zoo authorities had then set up a 70sq.ft enclosure and had kept a number of shallow trays. These turtles are protected species under the schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

However, as most of these tortoises succumbed over the past 20 months, the forest department decided to take back these creatures and handed them to an NGO hoping they would get better care and treatment.

"It is very difficult for wildlife to survive for long away from their habitat. In order to try to curb this mortality rate, we have taken back the surviving star tortoises and have kept them with the wildlife NGO Resinq Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW). Once we know where their habitats are we will send them back," said a forest official.

While the 23 surviving star tortoises are still coping, wildlife activists here assert that they were being kept in unhygienic and filthy conditions which could have affected their health which is why many died.

"When the tortoises were brought to us, they were oily and sticky and were covered in slime and filth, which suggests that they could be lying in their own excreta and waste. It took us a lot of time and effort to clean each tortoise carefully and get all the muck out. Keeping these reptiles in unsanitary conditions like that could have affected their health. While they are now clean and still coping, we are letting them rest and keeping them away from human interference for the next 24 to 48 hours after which a veterinarian will examine them," said Pawan Sharma, honorary wildlife warden associated with the Thane forest department and founder of RAWW.

Meanwhile, the Byculla zoo authorities assert that they have kept the tortoises in a healthy environment and the death of the 80 plus tortoises was because they were severely dehydrated babies when they were brought into their care.

"When the tortoises were brought to us, they were extremely small babies and were severely dehydrated because of the condition they were kept in before they were handed over to us. Generally the mortality of these reptiles is quite high even in the wild. As they were extremely dehydrated and unhealthy, their survival in captivity had even less chances. We kept them in good conditions and fed them a regular diet of salads and green leaves. Unfortunately, many didn't make it," said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director at the Byculla zoo.