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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• Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the trade - Columbia, Sun Mar 5 19:15:38 2006
• Clarifications - JohnH, Sun Mar 5 20:07:52 2006
• RE: Clarifications - Columbia, Sun Mar 5 21:06:59 2006
• but a caveat - simias, Sun Mar 5 21:55:34 2006
• RE: but a caveat - Columbia, Sun Mar 5 23:31:30 2006
• RE: but a caveat - simias, Mon Mar 6 00:44:54 2006
• Food Markets are Worse - JohnH, Mon Mar 6 08:06:39 2006
• RE: Food Markets are Worse - mrcota, Mon Mar 6 10:48:19 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the trade - mrcota, Mon Mar 6 03:31:27 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - Columbia, Mon Mar 6 10:46:34 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - mrcota, Mon Mar 6 10:54:01 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - Columbia, Mon Mar 6 11:19:35 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - mrcota, Mon Mar 6 18:19:58 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - THAsia, Wed Mar 8 20:28:48 2006
• RE: Why BURMESE STARS are elite in the t - THAsia, Wed Mar 8 20:26:44 2006