Man stole platypus, wrapped it in towel and showed it off on train, Australian cops say
A 26-year-old Australian man has been charged after he was accused of stealing a platypus and taking it on a train, Queensland Police said.
On April 4, surveillance footage in a Brisbane district train station showed two people, one holding a shopping bag and the other holding something wrapped in a towel, a Queensland Police news release said.
A closer look revealed a platypus, an Australian marsupial, was wrapped in the towel.
Police said the man holding the platypus took it on a train and then was “patting it and showing it to fellow commuters.”
Queensland officer Scott Knowles told Sky News someone had talked to the pair parading the platypus, and they said they found it on the road and were planning on releasing it back into the environment.
Police and environmental authorities made a public appeal for the platypus to be surrendered, saying it was potentially dangerous to have the animal out in public, both for people and the animal.
“The animal may become sick, be diseased or die the longer it is out of the wild and should not be fed or introduced to a new environment,” the release said. “It may also have venomous spurs which can cause significant injury to people and animals.”
Under the Nature Conservation Act of 1992, stealing and keeping a platypus can carry a maximum penalty of $431,250 Australian dollars, police said.
Two days later, police said they charged the 26-year-old man with stealing the platypus, according to an updated release.
Police said the man took “the platypus from a local waterway then (traveled) by train” from one train station to another before entering a shopping center with the platypus.
The pair also carried the platypus around the shopping center, showing it to other members of the public, police said.
The platypus was released back into a river, police said, and it has not been found by authorities to confirm its condition.
The man was charged with one count of taking a protected animal and one count of keeping or using a taken protected animal. He will appear in court April 8, according to police.
The woman is talking with police, who say the investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Man stole platypus, wrapped it in towel and showed it off on train, Australian cops say."
