Dublin Zoo relieved over return of stolen penguin

Jul 8, 11:37 AM EDT

DUBLIN (AP) -- Kelli the penguin's back home in Dublin Zoo after pranksters snatched the bird and abandoned her on a city sidewalk.

Dublin Zoo condemned Thursday's theft as no joke, because the 10-year-old Humboldt penguin could have been injured during her abduction or crushed by a vehicle.

Zoo officials said police tracked down Kelli using a signal from a microchip planted on the bird. She got the medical all-clear and was returned to her penguin partner, Mick.

Police said the thieves climbed over a security fence into an enclosure housing about a dozen Humboldt penguins and picked Kelli for reasons unknown.

Dublin Zoo has been targeted by annoying pranks before. In 2008, its switchboard was overwhelmed by callers asking to speak to Rory Lyon, G. Raffe and Ana Conda.

Online:

http://www.dublinzoo.ie

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_ODD_IRELAND_PENGUIN_KIDNAP

Students: can we have our bum slapping lucky cow back, please?

It’s a case of moo done it after a lucky statue of a cow was stolen from a college in Vienna days before their final exams.

The design students have begged police to find the life-size plastic cow, believing it brings good luck to anyone who slaps its rump before an exam.

The cow, decorated with Hawaiian flowers, was stolen from the school overnight.

The cow was one of the CowParade creations created by students for part of the largest and most successful public art event in the world.

Students now hope that tips leading to the thief will come forward after initiating a city-wide 'Wanted: Our School Cow' campaign.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/833486-students-can-we-have-our-bum-slapping-lucky-cow-back-please

RSPCA condemns sheep trolley prank

Sunday, November 29 2009, 22:16 GMT
By Catriona Wightman

The RSPCA has condemned pranksters who put a sheep in a trolley and pushed it into a supermarket.

The group was caught on CCTV at 3am in Asda in Bexleyheath, The Daily Telegraph reports.

It is believed that the group, who took photographs of the stunt, stole the sheep from a farm in Kent and took it to the shop in a car.

RSPCA inspector Andrew Kirby said that the sheep appears to be in good physical condition.

"This stupid, irresponsible stunt would have terrified this poor sheep and caused it great stress by removing it from its flock," he added. "We have tracked down the sheep's owner but we can't return it to its flock for six days because of restrictions on the movement of livestock."

Asda store manager Joe Lock also criticised the prank, saying: "We were shocked to discover that a poor sheep had been wheeled into our store. We hope the culprits hand themselves in."

The shop's employees have named the sheep Rob.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a189098/rspca-condemns-sheep-trolley-prank.html

Thief stuffs weapon-ferret down trousers

By TOM PHILLIPS - Friday, October 30, 2009

Police say a Florida man stole a live ferret from a pet shop by stuffing it down his trousers.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rodney Bolton is charged with theft of the $129 (£78) animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach, The Florida Times-Union reported.

A 17-year-old witness confronted Bolton about the ferret-theft in the car park as he tried to leave - and was bitten by the animal after Bolton allegedly pushed it in the teen's face.

Technically, under Florida law, that makes the ferret a 'special weapon', with the result that Bolton also faces battery charges for dangerously wielding the animal.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Thief_stuffs_weapon-ferret_down_trousers&in_article_id=760149&in_page_id=2

Concern Grows Over Skateboarding Tortoise

2:58pm UK, Friday September 18, 2009

Police are appealing for help to trace a stolen tortoise who appears in a favourite family photo riding on a skateboard.

Herman, a six-year-old hermann tortoise, was taken from his tank in Gosport between 10am and 6pm on August 20th.

The thief forced a secure cat flap, reached in, and took Herman from his tank.

Distraught owner Paula Grundy, 32, said: "We are really concerned about Herman. Lots of people don’t realise that tortoises need quite a lot of care.

"Apart from their food – baby corn, curly kale, cucumber, lettuce and apples – they need an ultraviolet lamp and a heat lamp to keep up their energy."

She said the family, especially her six-year-old son, are devasted at the loss of Herman, and the sight of the empty vivarium is almost too much to bear.

Herman is described as seven to eight inches long with a khaki shell. The shell has a distinctive white mark. He is valued at £300.

Police are asking anyone with any information to contact the Gosport Priority Crime Team on 101 or ring the anonymous Crimestoppers charity line on 0800 555 111.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Police-Appeal-Over-Stolen-Tortoise-Herman-Was-Taken-From-Family-Home-In-Gosport/Article/200909315384233?f=rss

Stolen monkeys found in Durg

29 August 2009, 05:06am IST

KOLKATA: Seven of the eight common marmosets stolen from Alipore zoological garden on August 9 were rescued from a house in Chhattisgarh’s Durg — some 900 km from Kolkata — on Friday night. One had died while in captivity.

City police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti confirmed the recovery and said that the Chhattisgarh police had made an arrest as well. “A Kolkata Police team will leave for Chhattisgarh on Saturday morning to make a detailed probe,” he said.

It was the Interpol notice and countrywide alert that led to the breakthrough, say sources. Kolkata Police’s detective department had few clues to work on. The Chhattisgarh police, who knew a lookout notice was on for the stolen Brazilian monkeys, got a tip on Friday afternoon that some people were trying to sell off monkeys.

They raided a house in Durg and found seven marmosets in a cage. The housekeeper was arrested and interrogated. “It was he who revealed that one of the monkeys had died while being transported from Kolkata,” said the city police chief.

Alipore zoological garden director Raju Das said he has been informed by the Chhattisgarh forest department that the marmosets would be returned to Kolkata soon.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City/Kolkata-/Stolen-monkeys-found-in-Durg/articleshow/4947103.cms

Thief caught with wet hamster in his glove box

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

When police searched the car of an alleged robber they found two things: the item he was accused of stealing... and a live hamster.

The animal was found in the glove box of Hans Kaiser's car after police searched his vehicle in Lighthouse Point, Florida.

Kaiser, 43 was arrested for suspected animal cruelty, two theft charges and one count of driving with a suspended license.

The hamster was taken to a local wildlife rehabilitation centre.

Police say Kaiser stole several eyeglass frames from the Eyesite Vision Center.

He was found an hour after the alleged theft by police as he walked to his car from a bar.

An eyeglass frame was found in the car, but so was a wet, frightened hamster inside the closed glove compartment.

Officers thought it was dead rat at first but then it moved when they touched it. They believe the hamster was in the car for an hour.

Kaiser has not explained why he had a hamster in his car.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Thief_caught_with_wet_hamster_in_his_glove_box&in_article_id=717734&in_page_id=2

8 rare monkeys stolen from Alipore zoo

Arnab Ganguly, TNN 10 August 2009, 04:45am IST

KOLKATA: Eight Brazilian monkeys found in only two Indian zoos were stolen from Alipore Zoological Gardens on Saturday night. The theft of the Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) - a midget-sized simian species measuring 14-18 cm — was detected on Sunday morning when at least 2 ft of the thick iron net of their cage was found sheared open.

Worse, this was not the first attempt to steal marmosets from India’s oldest zoological park. Thieves had targeted the monkey enclosure in March, but were chased away by guards. The theft has now cast a cloud over security arrangements at the zoo, which was handed over to a private agency four years ago. The involvement of zoo insiders has not been ruled out.

This is the first theft of monkeys from an Indian zoo. The species is in high demand for research in reproductive biology and endocrinology abroad (for their genetic proximity to human beings). A pair would fetch $3,000. The three adult males, three adult females and two babies would be a lucrative catch and a collector looking to add the species to his menagerie could also have organized the theft, said police.

“About a week ago, a Thai national was caught in Mumbai trying to smuggle out five Common Marmosets in a box. Three died of suffocation. These are used for research, kept as pets and are also eaten in parts of South-East Asia,” said Belinda Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

Apart from Kolkata, the only other zoo in India that houses the species is in Mysore. The eight marmosets were kept in a breeding enclosure (known as Lintu shed) located at the now-abandoned children’s zoo, close to the common boundary wall with the Alipore Bodyguard Lines. Carrying the Common Marmoset, which weighs around 450 gm, is no difficult task. It is suspected that the thieves had entered the enclosure with their hands covered as the little monkeys are known to bite. Police suspect the gang members escaped through either Alipore Bodyguard Lines or the Orphangunge Market, both located next to the zoo.

Around 8.30 am on Sunday, Sanjay Ram, one of the zoo keepers on the morning round, found the wire cage ripped and the eight monkeys missing. Incidentally, the keeper who should have reported for duty, also named Sanjay Ram, hadn’t turned up for work. “I was summoned hastily as Sanjay hadn’t reported,” Ram said. Police are inquiring why he stayed away on Sunday morning. Till late evening, no one had seen the truant keeper.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/kolkata-/8-rare-monkeys-stolen-from-Alipore-zoo/articleshow/4875722.cms

Bird stuffed into bag and stolen from pet shop

A thief crept into a pet shop and stuffed a rare Australian cockatoo into his bag before fleeing with the valuable bird without staff suspecting.

By By Sasjkia Otto
Published: 4:12PM BST 04 Aug 2009

CCTV footage from the Porton Pet and Aquatic Centre in Porton, Wiltshire, showed a young man walking into the shop, removing the padlock from the cage and taking the bird, a Galah.

Despite stuffing the usually noisy bird into his bag, he managed to leave unnoticed along with an older woman and a younger boy in an on old Renault Megane.

“It’s a wonderful bird who was hand reared, so it is like a teddy bear and completely defenceless,” said Gary Allen, the pet shop owner.

“These birds live for 60 to 100 years and they need a lot of care and attention, which they won’t get in the wrong hands.

"If someone ran out of the shop with an £8,000 pond pump I wouldn’t be as bothered as it’s just an object, but it is the welfare of the bird that is our concern. These birds are not stupid, they are like children, they need a lot of work.”

Mr Allen is appealing for information about the bird but fears the thieves may try to sell it.

“Bird thefts are a big market. They seemed like a family group, so they could have done it for themselves or stolen it to order,” he said.

Police have asked anybody with information to contact PC Charlotte Amos at Amesbury Police on 0845 408 7000.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5972152/Bird-stuffed-into-bag-and-stolen-from-pet-shop.html

Tracking device leads authorities to stolen snake

A STOLEN two-metre carpet python has been recovered after authorities homed in on a tracking device fitted to an endangered woylie which the snake had devoured.

The snake was taken from the Department of Environment and Conservation's Woodvale Research Centre sometime between June 19 and 22. The python had eaten a woylie in the wild at Narrogin, complete with transmitter, and was brought to the centre so the tracking device could be removed from the snake.

Conservation department officers, with the assistance of the airforce, put up a search plane yesterday and traced the signal to a house in Heathridge. Department of Environment and Conservation senior research scientist Nicky Marlow said she was "absolutely ecstatic" to have the python back. "We were really upset when the python was stolen because we knew it wasn’t a good thing for her to have the transmitter inside her," Dr Marlow said. Dr Marlow said DEC needed special permission from Air Services Australian and the military to send up a search plane. Sergeant Damian Ellson, of Joondalup police, said the occupant of the house where the snake was found was at home when the property was raided. The 31-year-old man, who told police he bought the python from a seller for $50, has been charged with receiving stolen property. "He (the occupant) was not aware there was a tracker involved," he said.

"Upon entry we found the snake in a fish tank within about one minute, so it was a great result.

"(The python) was in a poor condition, it didn’t have the light and requirements a snake of that type would need. "It was very cold and distressed when located." Sgt Ellson said trading in stolen wildlife was a serious offence which carried fines of up to $7000. Dr Marlow said the python will be returned to the wild once the transmitter has been removed in a couple of weeks. The police investigation is ongoing.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25693117-2761,00.html