Visuals of the rescued turtles | Photo Credit: ANI

Fatehpur: In one of the largest rescue operations of endangered animals being smuggled by traffickers in Uttar Pradesh, the UP Special Task Force (STF) on Saturday seized 747 tortoises in the state's Fatehpur city. Reports also assert that sleuths arrested two people for trafficking the reptiles.

Earlier this year, forest rangers in Odisha's Kalimela range seized a record 1,416 live endangered softshell tortoises and turtles from near MPV-65. At the time, officials familiar with the matter had told media personnel that the turtles were rescued as they were being smuggled from Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh to the Malkangiri in Odisha.

Fatehpur: Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and forest officials seized 747 tortoises, two people arrested pic.twitter.com/QJQAeCeRV3 — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 22, 2018

A similar offence was registered in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district where forest department officials rescued at least 654 Indian flap shell tortoises in the last week of November. Unfortunately, 482 of the turtles were found to be dead and the remaining 172 severely ill. While the Rangers busted the traffickers' hideout, the miscreants managed to escape the law by managing to flee before rangers could put cuffs on them for trafficking endangered species.

Also this year, a Delhi-based NGO along with another NGO in Singapore coordinated the return of about 50 Indian Star Tortoises who were smuggled to Singapore by traffickers. Known as one of the most trafficked tortoise species in the world, the Indian Star Tortoises are poached majorly for their body parts and meat. They are easily identifiable owing to the unique star-like radiating pattern on their shells. Continuous efforts by the forest department and other agencies such as the STF play a monumental role in saving endangered species from extinction.

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