A 26-year-old man has been charged over the alleged theft of a platypus from a waterway after urgent pleas to return the native animal.
The wild platypus was allegedly removed from Morayfield, a sprawling suburban area north of Brisbane, on Tuesday and taken on a train.
Footage showed a man and a female travelling via rail from Morayfield to Caboolture where they entered a King Street shopping centre.
It’s alleged the pair were observed showing the animal to members of the public at the shopping centre.
Earlier on Thursday, Qld’s top cop Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll weighed in and issued a warning to the alleged assailants.
“We do have pretty good footage as to who we believe has taken the platypus, as you can appreciate for the health and wellbeing of the animal, he really needs to be back in his environment,” she said.
“If you’re watching this and you know who you are, can you please come to us because we will be out there looking for you.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan also took the opportunity to underline the seriousness of the matter, giving “the little fella” the name Peter.
“To the people who have taken Peter the platypus, take it to the nearest police station, take it to the nearest vet, Peter needs to get home and you’ve done something very, very stupid,” he said.
“The police see, every single day, a whole number of people do stupid things, well this is a whole ‘nother level of stupid.”
Police said the man was charged late Thursday with one count each of taking protected animal class 1 offence and restriction on keeping or using taken protected animal class 1 offence.
Police were advised the animal was released into the Caboolture River, its condition unknown, and has not yet been located by authorities.
The man is due to appear at Caloundra Magistrates Court on Saturday, April 8.
A female has spoken with police and investigations are ongoing.
“Taking a platypus from the wild is not only illegal, but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs,” said a police statement.
“If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in the wild, keep your distance.
“Never pat, hold or take an animal from the wild.”
Anyone who sees a sick or injured wild animal should report it to the RSPCA on 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625) or to the Department of Environment and Science (DES) on 1300 130 372.
-with AAP
