For being as rare as you claim, there are certainly many that come out of Myanmar. It is one of the more common tortoises available in the Asian pet trade, although it does demand a high price, higher than that listed elsewhere in this thread.

As someone listed in this thread, CITES listings are more politically based and even more commercially based than on the basis of how much a species needs protection. Since the country of origin is often the one who initiates changes of CITES status and Myanmar is not a signatory, it is highly unlikely that it will change its status to Appendix I.

I have seen MANY Geochelone platynota and although they are a very attractive tortoise and I would rank it as one of the most beautiful species, but I believe that the Southern Indian/Sri Lankan Geochelone elegans or a Geochelone radiata with a decent pattern definitely compare with them.


Cheers,
Michael

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• 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