Indian Flapshell Turtles smuggling case

In an alleged smuggling racket, forest officials from Odisha found 40 Indian flapshell turtles in baskets.

Context

In an alleged smuggling racket, forest officials from Odisha found 40 Indian flapshell turtles in baskets.

About Indian flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata)

• Scientific name: Lissemys punctata
• Family: Trionychidae
• The Indian Flapshell Turtle is a relatively small softshell turtle with a carapace length of up to 350 mm. 
• It is a freshwater species of turtle.
• The “flap-shelled” name stems from the presence of femoral flaps located on the plastron.
• These flaps of skin cover the limbs when they retract into the shell.
• It is a relatively small soft-shell turtle with a carapace length of up to 350 millimetres.

Distribution

• They are found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh (Indus and Ganges drainages), and Myanmar (Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers).
• They live in the shallow, quiet, often stagnant waters of rivers, streams, marshes, ponds, lakes and irrigation canals, and tanks.
• These turtles prefer waters with sand or mud bottoms because of their tendency to burrow

Threats

• Turtles are smuggled and killed for their supposed aphrodisiac properties, livestock feed, to make leather from their skins, to make potions from their blood and to use as fishing bait.
• Turtles are also used for meat and medicines.