Burmese Star Tortoise - Definition and Overview

The Burmese Star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is becoming extinct in it's native Myanmar (Burma). It lives in the dry, deciduous forest, and is eaten both by the native Burmese, and is traded to the Chinese, where it's sometimes found in the food markets. It's on CITES Appendix II, meaning a permit from the country of export is required. Reportedly, Myanmar has never granted a export permit, meaning most captive bred are orginally from illegal tortoises, or imports grandfathered in prior to the CITES listing.

This tortise can easily be distinguished from the more common Indian Star tortoise by comparing the plastrons of the two species. It's considered critically endangered by the IUCN's Redlist (see www.redlist.org). One recent expedition searched for the Burmese star for 400 hours, and only found 5 tortoises. This was with specially trained dogs and 5 volunteers.