Police and Kenya Wildlife Service officials arrested two suspects after intercepting a vehicle transporting live tortoises without a permit in a crackdown on illegal wildlife trade in Kimana, Kajiado County.
The incident occurred on Sunday April 5 along the Kimana–Emali road in Kajiado South Sub-County, police said.
According to police, officers manning a roadblock, working jointly with a team from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) from Amboseli, acted on a tip-off and intercepted a grey vehicle.
Upon searching the vehicle, officers discovered ten live tortoises concealed inside a green sack.
The driver was arrested at the scene and later identified the owner of the sack who was also apprehended.
The suspects were detained and are expected to be charged with dealing in live wildlife species without a permit, contrary to Section 95 of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act.
Authorities said the recovered animals have been secured as exhibits, while investigations into the illegal wildlife trade network are ongoing.
It is not clear where the traffickers were taking the animal. Officials said they had noticed a surge in trafficking of tortoises and they are making efforts to stop the same.
The animals face extinction due to habitat loss, land clearance for agriculture, poaching for illegal pet trade and potential impacts from climate change.
They have been red-listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and international trade is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Despite this, the tortoise is still poached and traded illegally in Kenya.
The buyers smuggle the animal out of the country, primarily to Europe and North America where its exotic characteristics make it a treasured pet in private homes and zoos.
International illicit wildlife trafficking networks also supply exotic meat and pet markets in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia with endangered and threatened species.
Officials say there is an active campaign to address the menace.
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