Second major Malagasy wildlife seizure in Malaysia inside five weeks

Some of the 370 tortoises seized recently in Malaysia Click photo to enlarge © TRAFFIC July 2010—For the second time in just over a month hundreds of Critically Endangered tortoises from Madagascar have been seized by wildlife enforcement officers in Malaysia.

On 14 July, Malaysian Customs Department officers arrested two women in whose bags more than 370 tortoises, 47 Tomato Frogs and several chameleons were hidden.

They included 369 Radiated Tortoises and five Ploughshare Tortoises. Both are Critically Endangered species according to IUCN, the latter with a known world range of a mere 66 square kilometres.

This is the second case in just over a month involving the smuggling of these rare tortoises into Malaysia. In early June, Customs officers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport discovered 285 Radiated Tortoises, 14 Spider Tortoises and a single Ploughshare Tortoise in two unclaimed suitcases that also contained a stash of drugs.

The reptiles and amphibians seized in both cases have been handed over to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

Under recently revised Malaysian law, anyone convicted of importing or exporting any scheduled species without a permit faces a fine of up to MYR 1 million (GBP264,000) or a maximum jail sentence of seven years, or both.