Icon: enlarge
Humboldt penguins in British zoo (symbol)
Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP / dpa
A man from Great Britain has been jailed for 32 months for the theft and sale of penguins and other exotic birds.
The news agency AP reports.
The 25-year-old had stolen the Humboldt penguins Pablo and Penny from the Lakes Safari Zoo in north-west England.
He later sold the animals on Facebook.
The man had previously worked in the aviary at the zoo.
Birds worth almost 60,000 euros
He is said to have entered the zoo twice at night in 2018 and also stole spoonbills, great egrets and macaws.
According to the local newspaper "The Westmorland Gazette", the birds are said to have been worth about 53,000 pounds (approx. 59,000 euros).
Investigators discovered the bird thief when he wanted to sell the penguins to an animal collector for 9,000 pounds (approx. 10,000 euros).
However, the buyer noticed that the penguins were in bad shape.
He contacted a veterinarian and informed the police.
The perpetrator wanted to reverse the sale
The 25-year-old apparently wanted to prevent this - and, according to the AP, offered the animal collector to reverse the purchase.
When he showed up in front of his house with the money, the police caught him.
He had first denied the acts, said a member of the public prosecutor's office.
In view of the overwhelming evidence against him, however, he finally confessed.
Icon: The mirror
fek / AP
