Thane: As many as 285 star tortoises that were rescued by the Thane forest department and were kept under the care of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and various wildlife NGOs over the past few years will be released in their natural habitat in Karnataka on Friday morning as part of the forest department's unique repatriation initiative.The endangered tortoise had undergone a gene mapping test at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad to identify their habitat and sub-species. They were then found to be belonging to the south-western coast of India. So, they will transported to Bangalore and released in Bannerghatta National Park.Hundreds of endangered star tortoises were seized over the past few years from poacher who would sell them to earn a small fortune.However, their change of habitat and long period of captivity resulted in high mortality. So wildlife activists realise that these creatures must be connected to their original homes and soon they initiated the repatriation initiative."A number of these NGOs, including Thane SPCA and RAWW approached us and asked us that it was not advisable for these tortoises to live here as they did not belong to this area and the climate was harsh for them. Due to this, their mortality rate was increasing. While the Thane forest department's anti-poaching wing had 23 star tortoises under their care, the Thane SPCA had another 60. Dahanu's WCAWA had around 17, while WCCB itself had over 100 star tortoises," said Dr. Jitendra Ramgaokar, deputy conservator of forests (Thane).Speaking about the repatriation process, honorary wildlife warden Pawan Sharma, said, "Even within the star tortoise family, there are sub species that can be identified by their DNA or gene mapping. Under this process, the DNA of the tortoise is analysed at the CCMB in Hyderabad, which is then matched with the DNA of start tortoise families across the country. This process ensures that if a star tortoise is originally from north Maharashtra or Gujarat, it isn't sent to the south or vice versa."

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