In a hair-raising robbery, thieves stormed into an Australian zoo and stole nearly two dozen rare exotic reptiles, including pythons, tortoises and at least one baby alligator.
Thieves entered the Australian Reptile Park at Somersby on the New South Wales central coast last night and fled with at least 23 reptiles, sparking fears that the rare species could be destined for the black market.
Police are examining CCTV footage to try to identify the intruders after the park's security system was triggered about 11pm (local time).
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, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Park staff were still examining the smashed cages and tanks this 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," 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.
Vella 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," 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," she added.
The reptile park is working with police to try to catch the thieves.
