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Australia: Man in trouble after taking platypus on train ride

Australia: Man in trouble after taking platypus on train ride

Platypus

An Australian man has got into trouble after taking a wild platypus on a train. Police have launched a public appeal. The man, who faces court Saturday over alleged animal protection offences, is accused of removing the elusive critter from a waterway in northern Queensland and taking it on a train trip to a shopping centre.

"It will be further alleged the pair were observed showing the animal to members of the public at the shopping centre," Queensland police said in a statement.

Officials of the railways have nabbed that man. He was accompanied by a woman. The officials have spoken to her as well.

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"Police were advised the animal was released into the Caboolture River and has not yet been located by authorities," police said.

"Its condition is unknown."

CCTV photos from Tuesday showed a man in flip-flops strolling along a train platform north of Brisbane while cradling the platypus -- about the size of a kitten -- under his arm.

The man and his female companion then wrapped it in a towel, "patting it and showing it to fellow commuters", police said.

Under Queensland's conservation laws, it is illegal to take "one or more" platypus from the wild, with a maximum fine of Aus$430,000 (US$288,000).

(With inputs from agencies)


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