Nigeria, Oct. 28 -- Kenya's exquisite little pancake tortoise, locally known as kobe kama chapati, faces extinction due to habitat loss, land clearance for agriculture, poaching for the illegal pet trade and potential impacts from climate change.

On 10 August, three suspects were arrested in a sting operation conducted by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers and the police. The suspects were transporting four of these creatures to a buyer at the Marimanti trading centre in Tharaka-Nithi County. The sting operation came in the wake of KWS unveiling a National Recovery and Conservation Action Plan for the Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) in Kenya (2025-2035) on 16 May.

These unusually soft-shelled, beautifully patterned, relative...