Critically endangered elongated tortoise spotted in Aravallis for first time

IUCN Red list

About: The IUCN Red List is the foremost global resource for assessing the risk of extinction among
animals, fungi, and plant species.

Objective:
Accessible to all, it serves as a crucial indicator of global biodiversity
health, it offers comprehensive insights into species'
characteristics, threats, and conservation measures, playing a pivotal role in
shaping informed conservation decisions and policies.

Significance: The IUCN
Red List Categories define the extinction risk of species assessed. Nine
categories extend from NE (Not Evaluated) to EX (Extinct). Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN)
and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened
with extinction. The IUCN Red List includes the
IUCN Green Status of Species, which assesses the recovery of species’ populations
and measures their conservation success.

Aim: A Green Status assessment examines how conservation actions
have affected the current Red List status.

Recent
updates: This information was presented at the 28th Conference of Parties,
shedding light on the escalating impacts of climate change on a diverse range
of species. The IUCN Red List now includes 157,190 species, of which 44,016 are
threatened with extinction.

Key points

Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongate): The tortoise, found in the Sal deciduous
and hilly evergreen forests, is distributed across Southeast Asia from northern
India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh in the west, eastward through Myanmar, Thailand,
and all of Indo-china, north to Guangxi Province of China and south to Peninsular
Malaysia.

Threat to the spices: The principal threats to this
species are the mass hunting of the remaining wild populations for the large
and growing food markets in China and elsewhere in East Asia. It is also
incorrectly believed in China that a mixture, made by grinding up the
tortoise's shell, serves as an aphrodisiac. In addition, other threats are
habitat destruction and illegal collecting for the pet trade.