A horn shark has been safely returned to a Texas zoo after thieves abducted it in a pram.
The 16-inch-long female shark, named Miss Helen, was removed from its tank at the San Antonio Aquarium on Saturday afternoon by two men and a woman. Two of the suspects have since confessed under police questioning.
“The suspects took the fish into a backroom, put it into a bucket... and then put the bucket into a stroller,” which they covered with a blanket, Time reports.
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However, an aquarium employee had noticed their suspicious behaviour around the tank and raised the alarm.
A manager confronted the trio in the car park outside, where they insisted the pram contained a sick child and quickly fled the scene.
When the tank was checked and the horn shark found to be missing, staff called in the police.
Leon Valley police chief Joseph Salvaggio told local ABC station 10 News that officers initially thought the report was “some kind of hoax”.
However, CCTV footage proved that a male visitor had reached into the open pool and lifted Miss Helen out before hurrying away. Moments later, he is seen re-entering the frame with a bundle which he places in an empty buggy.
Within hours, a listing appeared on Facebook offering a horn shark for sale in the San Antonio area for $300 (£228).
The poster assured potential buyers that the creature was “alive and well”, adding: “just took out of tank for a quick pic”.
It is “unclear” if the seller was one of the suspects involved in the incident at the aquarium, CBS reports, adding that the post “has since been deleted”.
One employee told CBS that aquarium staff were “overjoyed” for the safe return of Miss Helen, whom she described as “a little fighter”.