Duckbill in Tasmania (Photo: Klaus – Flickr: Wild Platypus 4 via Wikimedia Commons)
Forget about the Hollywood movie Snakes on a Plane – An Australian is in trouble because he traveled with a platypus on a train.
The police made a request to the public after the 26-year-old man, accompanied by a woman, was spotted on a train with a platypus wrapped in a towel.
The man was arrested and will appear in court on Saturday on animal protection charges. He is accused of removing the animal from a waterway in the north of Queensland and then driving the animal on a train to a shopping centre.
“The state will also allege the two showed the animal to several members of the public at the shopping centre,” Queensland police said in a statement.
Railway officials apprehended the man and they also spoke to the woman who was with him.
However, the platypus’s fate is unknown.
“The police were informed that the animal had been released into the Caboolture River. However, authorities have not yet been able to locate him again,” the police added. “His condition is unknown.”
CCTV pictures show a man walking on a platform north of Brisbane with the platypus, about the size of a small kitten, under his arm. The man and the woman wrapped it in a towel and showed it to fellow passengers.
According to Queensland’s animal protection laws, it is illegal to remove “one or more” platypuses from the wild. A maximum fine of AUD430 000 (about R5.2 million) can be imposed.
“It is not only illegal to remove a platypus from the wild, it can also be dangerous for the animal and the person who removes the animal. Male platypuses also have a toenail on their back legs which is poisonous,” the police added. “If you are lucky enough to come across a platypus in the wild, keep your distance.”
With webbed legs for swimming and a large, rubbery snout, British scientists initially thought someone had played a prank when they first came across the animal in the late 18th century.
Due to drought, habitat loss and pollution, the population of platypuses is in drastic decline. It is one of the few mammals that lays an egg.
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(Photo: Queensland Police)
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(Photo: Queensland Police)
