WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Manhunt Underway for Kidnapped, Potentially ‘Venomous’ Platypus

A 26-year-old man snatched the semiaquatic mammal and took it on a stroll with him, authorities say.

A 26-year-old man in Australia has been charged for allegedly kidnapping a wild platypus and taking it out for a day on the town. The man, who has not been identified by name, was charged by the Queensland Police Service with taking an animal out of the wild and keeping it, an offense that could see him slapped with a $289,000 fine, The New York Times reports. Authorities say the man snatched the platypus from a town north of Brisbane and was later seen, along with an unnamed female acquaintance, showing it off to people on a train. Police are now trying to determine the whereabouts of the semiaquatic mammal, saying they were told it had been released into a river but that there was so far no sign of it. While the platypus itself is at risk of serious illness the longer it is out of the wild, people who come into contact with it may also find that the animal’s legs have “venomous spurs which can cause significant injury to people and animals.”