I agree that this species is among the most beautiful of all turtles and tortoises. I personally wouldn't put elegans in the same category as radiata and platynota though.

Regarding the 4 people you have identified, 2 of them have not hatched burmese stars themselves but have offered for sale burmese stars produced by other people. Also, 2 key names left out are Will Ahrens and Pete Gardiner. There are also a couple AZA institutions that have successfully reproduced these including, Bronx Zoo and Zoo Atlanta.

Lastly, platynota are CITES listed- CITES Appendix II. They would undoubtedly be listed as CITES I based on their very low numbers but the Govt. of Burma (Myanmar) must request this recognition as the species is only found in Burma. Burma is not a CITES signatory and cares more about running a miitaristic govt. than a soon to be extinct tortoise. Many believe the wild population is functionally extinct already and the remaining population rivals that of the very rare yniphora tortoise.

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