Indian Flapshell Turtles smuggling case

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.