23 animals stolen from NSW repitle park. #animals If you have any information contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Some animals stolen need specialised care. There are fears that nearly two dozen reptiles, including at least one baby alligator, could be destined for the black market after they were stolen during a daring night-time raid at the Australian Reptile Park on the NSW central coast. Police are examining CCTV footage to try to identify the intruders after the Somersby park’s security system was triggered about 11pm on Sunday. The thieves smashed their way into the reptile holding area and escaped with at least 23 reptiles, including pythons, geckos, iguanas, tortoises and at least one baby alligator. Park staff were still examining the smashed cages and tanks on Monday morning to determine if any further animals were missing. By the time police and security arrived just after 11pm, the offenders had fled. Liz Vella, a senior curator at the Australia Reptile Park, said some of the reptiles were rare exotic species that needed specialised care. ‘‘It definitely looks like the people that broke in knew what they wanted and were taking all lengths to get it, obviously doing a lot of damage in their path,’’ Ms Vella said. ‘‘There is a black market for reptiles. A lot of the animals are not worth a lot. Obviously they’re worth everything to us and we love them dearly, but if anybody hears any information about animals being sold or sees anything with exotic reptiles, definitely please give the police a call and hopefully we will get some of them back.’’ She said most of the stolen animals were babies, and were not dangerous. They were from the park’s education collection, and were regularly shown to visitors and school children at the park. ‘‘There are some rare exotic species in there that need specialised care, so we’re very worried about their health and safety,’’ Ms Vella said. ‘‘There were some baby alligators in the the room, less than 20 centimetres long, so they’re just babies that hatched this year. ‘‘Again we’re really worried for their safety, and [the alligators] definitely do need some special requirements to be kept.’’ The reptile park is working with police to try to catch the thieves. ‘‘We do have a good security system, including CCTV footage, and obviously we’ve got multiple avenues that we’re following up on with the police and hopefully they’ll lead us to getting our animals back,’’ Ms Vella said. Police have appealed for anyone with information about the robbery to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Read more: smh.au/environment/animals/alligator-stolen-23-animals-taken-from-nsw-reptile-park-20130715-2pyqw.html#ixzz2Z5uhi5L9
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 06:51:42 +0000
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