Indian Star Tortoise

Yes, and it is a good example of disruptive camouflage, where high-contrast markings break up the recognisable shape of an animal rather than matching its background. In the open, on a plain surface, a star tortoise stands out, but in its actual habitat, among tussocky dry grass, fallen leaves, and the shifting shadows they cast, the radiating yellow lines fragment the smooth dome of the shell so that a predator's eye does not resolve it as a single solid object. The same principle is used in the bold stripes of a zebra and in military dazzle camouflage. The pattern is not only decorative, though it is that too.

A combination of demand and vulnerability. The striking shell makes it one of the most desirable tortoises in the international pet trade, particularly in East and Southeast Asian markets, and it is small, quiet, and easy to conceal and transport in bulk. It occurs across a wide area at moderate density, so collectors can take large numbers from accessible scrub and farmland, and rural people can earn significant money supplying middlemen. Enforcement has struggled to keep pace; seizures at airports in Chennai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and elsewhere regularly turn up thousands of tortoises at once, and those are only the shipments that are caught.

Where they can be obtained legally as captive-bred animals, they are kept successfully by experienced tortoise keepers, but they are not beginner animals. They need consistent warmth, a large enclosure with basking heat and UVB, careful humidity that neither dries them out nor stays damp enough to cause shell rot, and a grazing diet of grasses and weeds with added calcium. They are also more prone to respiratory illness than some hardier tortoises. Crucially, any star tortoise offered cheaply or without clear captive-bred documentation should be assumed to be wild-caught and illegal, and buying one funds the trafficking that threatens the species.

Several tortoises have radiating shell markings. The radiated tortoise of Madagascar has a similar but bolder, more regular starburst and grows much larger, to 40 centimetres, and is Critically Endangered. The Burmese star tortoise is a close relative of the Indian species from Myanmar, also heavily trafficked and Critically Endangered, with a slightly different arrangement of lines. The Indian star tortoise is the smallest and most widespread of the group and the one most often seen in the pet trade. All of them are targeted for the same reason and all are of conservation concern.