Rare tortoise kept as pet seized from businessmans flat

A Lokhandwala businessman was keeping a tortoise of a rare species as a pet before Thane forest officers seized it from him and fined him Rs 25,000.

Velchime S Gonsalviss pet,measuring a foot from end to end,belongs to what forest officers described as Grade IV of the Star breed. Had it belonged to Grade I or II,the keeper would have had to spend six months in jail.

Gonsalvis reportedly told the officers that the tortoise had been gifted by a friend a few days ago and that he did not know it is illegal to keep it as a pet. The officers asked him to sign a bond that he will no longer keep any protected animal as a pet.

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Neighbours had informed officers of the Naupada Range forest range,who raided Gonsalviss house at Akshay Apartment,took custody of the tortoise and informed the Oshiwara police. We have made a diary entry of the incident, said Dilip Rupwate,senior inspector.

M N Singhvade,forest range officer,said tortoises of the Star breed are a protected species under the Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act. It is illegal to keep these as pets. We will release it in the Thane forest after we verify the species and the breed, said an officer.

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