Tortoises branded, with reason

Paul Gibbons, managing director and veterinarian of the Turtle Conservancy's Behler Chelonian Center in Los Angeles on January 14, 2014, displays defaced domes of tortoises. The shells are defaced to reduce their value on the black market, and the permanent marking also makes it easier for law enforcement authorities to trace them. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Rare tortoises are branded to make them unattractive to poachers.

THE booming illegal international wildlife trade has forced conservationists to do the unthinkable – brand the golden domes of two of the rarest tortoises on Earth to reduce their black market value by making it easier for authorities to trace them if stolen.