Burmese Star Tortoise
Our country, Myanmar has many unique animals
each with their own characteristics. Among them, the
Burmese star tortoise is a particular tortoise with a star
pattern on its back. It has bumps on its shell that
resembles stars.
These species are only found in Myanmar, hence
the name Burmese Star Tortoise. It is a medium sized
tortoise with an oval-shpaed top shell. This characterisc
makes it so that it can be easily distinguished from
other tortoises making it unique. The size ranges from
20 cm to 30cm and sometimes even up to 32cm. They
weigh between 1.3 kg to 2.2 kg. The colour of the shell
of this tortoise species is dark brown or black but its
skin of the head, limbs and tail are all yellowish
including the bumps.
They inhabit in thron scrubs or bushes and dry
forsests, all of which are in dry zone of central
Myanmar. They are also seen in Tropical, Arid or desert
climates. The Burmese star tortoise is terrestrial animal
which are usually active during the day. They have long
term memory which help them remember the patterns
of pathways.
Their diet consists of grass, fruits and vegetations,
seeds, mosses, and sometimes snails. Earthworms and
insects. They are very charming creatures. When they
get alarmed they pull in their heads inside their shells
which serves as a barrier against the predators and
freeze in place. These tortoises have been recognized as
critically endangered species. The reasons for that is
because they are commonly eaten by natives; exported
to food markets in neighbouring countries and etc. Due
to the expansion of agriculture, they lose their native
habitat and suffer from degradation and fragmentation.
Many people have tried to conserve them by carrying
out breeding progamme and releasing them into the
wildlife sanctuary if they are recovered from illegal
trading. By these efforts, the Brumese star tortoise will
thrive again in our contry in the future
