New ID Tools to Help Curb Illegal Trade of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles in India Launched

New Delhi: TRAFFIC, the Turtle Survival Alliance India (TSA-India) and WWF-India have created new identification (ID) tools in the form of pocket-sized Identification Cards and a foldable Poster on all 28 species of tortoises and freshwater turtles found in India to help enforcement officers identify the species encountered in illegal wildlife trade.

The ID tools’ release follows hot on the heels of “Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Under Siege,'' a study released last week by TRAFFIC which found a minimum of 111,310 tortoises and freshwater turtles in illegal wildlife trade in India over a 10-year period from September 2009 to September 2019. This equates to more than 11,000 individuals every year or at least 200 per week since 2009. Read more from WWF India HERE.