Staff at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoo in Florida are asking for help after two Galapagos tortoises were stolen from the zoo.
The two giant tortoises were captured on 30 November, according to a Facebook post shared on the zoo’s page.
“GREAT TURTLE THEFT”, began the post before explaining that the two turtles are members of an endangered species. The reptiles were born at St. Augustine Alligator Farm in
.
“If someone you know came home with a large black turtle this week, it was not legally purchased,” the post read. “This species is NOT available in the pet trade and they will weigh 552 pounds! They can’t be outside on these cooler nights, even in Florida.”
The park shared that the turtles need to follow a special diet and eat supplements individuals to survive.
While staff search for images of the theft through “hours of video surveillance,” the zoo asks the public to help bring the turtles home. The post also notes that Galapagos tortoises are microchipped, so a vet will be able to identify them if someone brings the animals.
“Our hope is that they will be returned to us unharmed,” the post said. “Our efforts to support the conservation of this species have been in the making for decades. Our animal team is heartbroken by this.”
The park said it has been working for years to include Galapagos tortoises in its ” Special Survival Plan” so that endangered reptiles can exist in future generations.
First Coast News, an NBC News affiliate, spoke with John Brueggen, director of the park, who described the two giant tortoises as “really rare and valuable.”
First Coast News reported that four turtles remained in the same exhibit and only two were left around 4: 000 pm on 552 November.
“I don’t think so make it a joke,” Brueggen told First Coast News. He also shared that the stolen turtles are only five years old and weigh about 12 pounds each.
He added: “Because they are rare, this is almost like Grand Theft Auto, except now it is “Grand Theft Tortoise”. Because this is an animal that in an open market would sell for $12,02.
Brueggen suggested that a thief or “some teenager” looking for a pet might have jumped over the fence, entered the exhibit, and taken the turtles.
Your personal he is concerned about the welfare of the animals and the possibility of losing reptiles that they have been trying to incubate for years.
“This is a living creature, and they are concerned about its health,” he said.
The zoo is asking anyone with information to contact Florida Fish and Wildlife or St. Augustine Police.
Also read:
· Video shows a coyote attacking a girl in broad daylight in Los Angeles
8-year-old boy is attacked and decapitated by a crocodile in front of his parents in Costa Rica
· They discover the fossil of a huge turtle of 12 feet and 83 million years old