Thieves steal duffel bag, apparently unaware it's full of snakes - via Herp Digest

HTV National Desk, 10/8/19. Hartford, CT, The Hour

Reptile breeder Brian Gundy had just given a talk and animal presentation Saturday in San Jose, California. While going to get his car parked in a garage around 4:30 p.m., he left his his snakes and lizards in boxes and a bag in a no-parking zone.

When he returned for his critters, he made a grim discovery. 

"As I was loading up my gear, I realized the bag that had my four pythons and blue skink lizard inside was gone and they were just there seconds ago," Gundy told KTVU Fox 2.

Gundy had seen several people walk by his equipment, so he ran after them but couldn't catch up. He told KTVU he doesn't think they knew what was inside.

If the thieves were surprised by the contents of the bag, Gundy worries that the pythons — three ball pythons and a baby albino caramel Burmese python — and the blue-tailed skink could have been tossed into a dumpster or otherwise abandoned.

"It's very upsetting for me because — even though there is quite a bit of money involved in this loss — my biggest concern is the safety of these animals," Gundy said in a video he uploaded to YouTube.

He added that the thieves probably have no idea how to care for a snake.

The stolen animals were worth approximately $5,000, according to the reptile breeder. A box containing a tegu lizard and an ice chest with a 13-foot Burmese python inside were not taken.

Gundy filed a police report and hopes that the garage's surveillance video will help identify the thieves. He told KTVU that he isn't looking to press charges.

He said he just wants his snakes and lizard back — no questions asked.

Four stolen monkeys returned to Blackpool Zoo

Four of the five stolen tamarin monkeys have been found at an an address in West Yorkshire and returned to Blackpool Zoo, with the four-month-old cotton-topped tamarin still remaining at large. It is believed the media attention the crime received led the monkeys to be abandoned.

Andy McWilliam from the National Wildlife Crime Unit said, “It is good news that these endangered species have been recovered and are being cared for at the zoo. We are still making every effort to trace those responsible for this crime.”

The burglary happened overnight between Tuesday 29 April and Wednesday 30 April and the thieves stole two female and one baby cotton-top tamarins, which are a critically endangered species, and two male emperor tamarins.

Police believe the animals were targeted specifically.

Continued

Blackpool Zoo's cotton-top and emperor tamarin monkeys stolen

Five monkeys have been stolen during a "targeted" break-in at Blackpool Zoo, police have said.

Two female and one baby cotton-top tamarins and two male emperor tamarins were taken when thieves broke into their enclosures, on Tuesday night.

Lancashire Constabulary's Andy McWilliam said officers were "making inquiries across Europe" as there was "definitely a market for the monkeys".

Zoo director Darren Webster said staff were "extremely saddened" by the theft.

Continued

CREWKERNE: Mystery as lost cats reappear

A PAIR of much-loved family pets that mysteriously vanished on the same day in mid-April have just as mysteriously returned.

Cat-lover Margaret Brown believes the four-year-old animals were possibly stolen but later released because of a high-profile community campaign to find them.

The cats, Ginger and Scampy, belong to Mrs Brown and her grandson Peter, 24, who live at Langmead Square, Crewkerne.

The animals disappeared on Friday, April 13th.

After a week of fruitless searching and alerting the police, Cats Protection League, local vets and animal sanctuaries, Mrs Brown asked the Weekender to publicise the animals’ disappearance.

She told us then that her worst fear was that someone malicious had stolen the cats and possibly sold them to get money for drugs.

“It’s very strange that our two cats went missing on the same day,” she added.

But on Monday of last week, Scampy appeared outside the front door, looking fit and well.

And on Monday of this week, Ginger suddenly reappeared in the back garden — 24 days after vanishing.

“He’s half his normal weight. But he seems all right otherwise,” said Mrs Brown.

Since then, Mrs Brown has had both cats “chipped” so that, should they disappear again, they can easily be identified if they are ever taken to a vet.

Mrs Brown said grandson Peter was delighted to have his cats back.

PICTURE: LOST AND FOUND - Margaret Brown is reunited with Ginger and Scampy, the family cats that went mysteriously AWOL

http://www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk/news_view/19931/16/1/crewkerne-mystery-as-lost-cats-reappear

Stolen Rabbits Returned To Ore. Farmer Levi Cole

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland police say more than a dozen rabbits reported stolen the night before a rabbit-cooking class have been returned by bunny advocates who had been caring for them.Members of the volunteer group Rabbit Advocates say they're trying to buy the bunnies so they can live as pets.Police say 18 rabbits belonging to farmer Levi Cole disappeared on Jan. 7.

Cole says the theft occurred the night before he taught a class on raising, slaughtering and cooking rabbits.Cole is an instructor for the Portland Meat Collective. He believes the theft was politically motivated. Police have no suspects.Rabbit Advocates board member Erin Ford says the bunnies were dumped anonymously at the home of a volunteer.Police Lt. Robert King said 17 rabbits were picked up Friday from the advocates' lawyer's office. King says police are still looking for one small, gray rabbit named Roger. Ford says she believes he's still in foster care.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/stolen-rabbits-returned-_n_1207283.html?ref=weird-news

'Criminal' penguin caught on film

A "criminal" stone-stealing Adelie penguin has been captured on camera by a BBC film crew.

The team, filming for the documentary Frozen Planet, spent four months with the penguin colony on Ross Island, Antarctica.

The footage they captured shows a male penguin stealing stones from its neighbour's nest.

The birds build their stone nests to elevate and protect their eggs from run-off when the Antarctic ice melts.

Males with the best nests are more likely to attract a mate, so, in a colony of half a million penguins, the best stones are highly prized.

Read on...

Golden-handed monkeys stolen from Doncaster garden

A pregnant monkey and her mate have been stolen from a home near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.


Their owner, Albert Dargue, believes the golden-handed tamarins were taken from his garden in Rossington on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

He said: "I'm very worried, the people who stole them don't know how to care for them." He believes his other monkeys may have attacked the thieves.

South Yorkshire Police has confirmed it is investigating the matter.

A spokesperson said it was believed the suspects forced open the padlock on a shed where the monkeys were housed.

The pair were rescued monkeys and have been valued at £2,250 each.

Mr Dargue has owned the animals for about four years and he has appealed for their return.

He said: "The female is due to give birth in October. They're part of the family.

"Please bring them back and no legal action will be taken. They'll die without proper care."

The missing animals are also known as red-handed tamarins and are about the size of a small cat.

They are black with distinctive golden hands and feet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-14234161

Two accused of stealing cockroach, happy ending for cockroach

The beastly crime was carried out in a series of night-time raids on the Baltimore’s Carrie Murray Nature Center by two brothers, aged 11 and 14.
Police spokeswoman Officer Nicole Monroe said yesterday that the boys will face charges including theft and breaking and entering. They've been released into their parents' custody.

The animals they stole included an iguana, geckos, chameleons, turtles – and a wingless Madagascar hissing cockroach.

Why, is anyone’s guess. Perhaps they wanted to see the cockroach have a hissing fit?

Anyway, none of the animals came to any harm and they were all returned safe and sound to the nature centre.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/847811-two-accused-of-stealing-cockroach-happy-ending-for-cockroach#ixzz15l39RIFt

Ploughshare Tortoises Find Their Way Home

Channelon-Line TV/Jersey News. 10/29/10
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is celebrating the news that three of four ploughshare tortoises, stolen from its base in Madagascar, have been returned to the Trust.
The four tortoises were stolen in May last year, as they were about to be  released into their native habitat in the north-west of Madagascar. Each animal was at least 15 years old and part of Durrell's long term captive
breeding programme for the species.
One of the animals was retreived in a shipment of smuggled tortoises about to leave Anatnanarivo airport, and another was retreived after it appeared on a Malaysian website, on sale for $15,000.
The third and most recent one was recovered following the seizure of an illegal shipment of animals by the Malaysian authorities in Kuala Lumpur  this summer.
In July, two women were caught travelling with suitcases containing 400 radiated tortoises, 11 spider tortoises and four ploughshare tortoises.
The three tortoises will now all rejoin Durrell's captive breeding programme, which has been placed under strict police protection.
Richard Lewis, Director of Durrell's Madagascar Programme said: "This is a really important event. Not only have we been able to recover this animal,  it is a powerful signal from the Malaysian Government that they will not  stand for the illegal shipment of threatened species through their  borders. Most of the illegal trade in wildlife from Madagascar is routed through South East Asian countries and we hope that this is a precedent
that can be followed by other countries such as Thailand and Indonesia to  show that there is no future to illegally stripping Madagascar of its natural heritage for profit."
The investigation into the wherebouts of the fourth missing tortoise continues however, and the hope is that it might be part of batch seized at Bangkok Airport on 11th October, including one medium sized ploughshare. Durrell are currently working with TRAFFIC and the Thai authorities to confirm whether this is the last of the four.
From: HerpDigest Volume # 10 Issue # 46 10/30/10 (A Not-for-Profit Publication)

Tails stolen from Montana horses

THREE FORKS, Mont. - Authorities in Montana said at least two horse owners have called police to report the theft of hair from their animals. The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office said Sandy O'Rourke of Three Forks called Oct. 17 and reported someone had taken the tails off two of her horses and cut part of the mane from a third, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported Thursday. The theft came a month after Bob and Connie Riley of Dillon reported the theft of the hair from their horse's tail, investigators said. The horse owners said their animals were not injured, but they are inconvenienced as they rely on their tails to swat at flies. "It takes about four to five years for the tail to grow back," Bob Riley said.