disappearance in the night of four turtles of a protected species

Four Greek tortoises disappeared from the Lille zoo on the night of Saturday June 24 to Sunday June 25, learned our colleagues from France Bleu Nord. It didn’t open at 10 a.m. like every Sunday, but at 11 a.m.,“the time to make the necessary checks to guarantee the safety of the public and the animals”, explains the municipality on its Twitter account. The town hall of the city will file a complaint for theft of protected species and intrusion.

According to information from France Bleu Nord, the disappearance was noted after an intrusion last night: “We checked everything before opening, to see if the animals had been injured or if there were any missing. We noticed that four Greek tortoises had disappeared”, says a city spokesperson.

This is not the first time that animals have disappeared in the middle of the night at the Lille zoo. In March 2020, a baby meerkat mysteriously disappeared a day after birth. The trail of the theft was considered, an intrusion into the zoo had been observed. But the municipality also explained at the time the animal had perhaps been killed and devoured by its congeners.