Customs seizure of the endangered African spurred tortoise

On July 11, Gongbei Customs Quarantine Lab identified a big endangered tortoise—African spurred tortoise (scientific name: Geochelonesulcata) which was 11.4 kilograms weighty, earlier intercepted at Zhakou Customs House from inside an inbound car of a Macanese passenger. Because the passenger failed to present relevant permits and valid quarantine certificate, Gongbei Customs has detained the endangered tortoise and transferred it to a competent department.

African spurred tortoise is listed both in the Appendix Ⅱ of the “Convention onInternationalTradeinEndangered SpeciesofWildFauna and Flora” (CITES) and in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, thus being banned from trade and strictly restricted in import and export.