Put an attractive, relatively large animal on a small island and allow export, and the invariable result is a decline in the animal’s population. Found only on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Halmahera, the Forsten’s tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii) is categorized as Endangered by the World Conservation Union. The species has undergone an estimated population decline of 70 percent within the last three generations mostly due to local consumption and export for the pet trade.
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