They’re pretty. They’re harmless. And they won’t give you salmonella, unlike the once popular pet, the red-eared slider turtle. Indian star tortoises are now the stars of the pet trade.

They used to be a species conservationists didn’t worry about. Occasionally one would show up at a Hindu temple as an object of worship (they still do—the god Vishnu is believed to have been reincarnated as a tortoise), but there just wasn’t much of a market for them.

Now, reptile experts and the broader conservation community are worried. The illegal trade in Indian star tortoises has skyrocketed. Back in 2004, one estimate figured about 10,000 to 20,000 were being taken illegally from the wild over the tortoises’ entire range, which encompasses India,