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One hundred and fifty critically endangered Burmese star tortoises were stolen from a wildlife sanctuary in central Myanmar on January 12, reported local media.
An administrator of Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary in Magwe region told 7Day News that he expects the tortoises will be sold abroad.
He said 169 of the species remain in the nature reserve, which spans more than 200 square miles and is home to deer, boars, bears and a variety of birds among other animals.
Forestry department staff erected blockades near the park and alerted the police, who began a hunt for the thieves, reported the outlet.
A case was filed under the Protection of Biodiversity and Protected Area Law 2018 at Magwe township police station, but so far no arrests have been made in connection to the crime.
Endemic to the forests of Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing regions, the tortoise were almost hunted to extinction a couple of decades ago.
The yellow polygon pattern on their shell camouflages them in dried grass, but also makes them an attractive prize for exotic pet owners.
The animal is sold in the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia, while wildlife traffickers have brought it to southern China to sell in the traditional medicine and meat markets.
A team effort from the natural resources and environment conservation ministry, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) resurrected the species from fewer than 200 tortoises in 2004 to about 14,000 captive tortoises, said a TSA conservationist, with about 1,000 of the species reintroduced into the wild.
But Shwe Settaw Wildlife Sanctuary suffered another setback last May, when the Myanmar Times reported that 62 of the 650 Burmese star tortoises released in February had died during a heat wave.
