SOUTH AFRICA: THIEVES STEAL 2 CORN SNAKES FROM PRETORIA ZOO
Like 0 Dislike 0 Published on 21 Jul 2015
English/Nat
South African thieves have stooped to new lows in their quest to make an informal living.
They stole two corn snakes from the Pretoria Zoo, leaving their offspring still in their eggs.
After the abduction of the reptiles eight baby snakes were born at the Pretoria Zoo.
The two-week old orphans are currently about 20 centimetres long and are being cared for by zoo staff.
They are normally found in southeastern United States. They prey on rodents and live in cornfields or barns. Hence their name, corn snakes. They are non-poisonous.
Though not rare, they are very popular with collectors and zoos because of their beautiful pale yellow and red striped bodies.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"And they are very beautiful snakes and obviously people will
steal them for the money and for their collection."
SUPER CAPTION: Sarita Cronje, Pretoria Zoo
Police believe that the parents were probably stolen to be sold on the black market, as they are worth more than 100 dollars each.
The stolen reptiles were the Zoo's Corn Snake breeding pair.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"And the South African police force are very much involved and
have gone to a lot of trouble to find out what is happening and to
find the snakes for us. It was a breeding pair of the corn snakes
that were stolen."
SUPER CAPTION: Sarita Cronje Pretoria Zoo
South African police believe hundreds of dollars are involved in local syndicates that specialise in buying and selling reptiles.
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