INDIANAPOLIS — Personnel at the Indianapolis Zoo first noticed a pair of rare, endangered tortoises were missing after a routine morning count on Oct. 12. Zoo staff didn’t report the tortoises missing to Indiana State Police until 11 days later on Oct. 23.
According to ISP, the reptiles were snatched out of their enclosure in the desert exhibit sometime between 10 a.m. on Oct. 11 and 10 a.m. on Oct. 12.
Investigators said the thief stole an Egyptian tortoise and a Northern Spider tortoise. Both are critically endangered due to the pet trade and poaching, according to the zoo’s website.
“The tortoises are not the large giant tortoises that you see people sitting on and riding around on,” Captain Ron Galaviz with the Indiana State Police said. “These are actually very small, probably fit in the palm of your hand.”
Galaviz confirmed the timeline of events but zoo officials have not said why they waited so long to report the tortoises stolen. Former FBI investigator Doug Kouns suspects it may have been an attempt keep it out of the headlines.
“My first thought would’ve been an insider, and maybe we can keep this quiet, resolve it, get somebody to just return it, and maybe you get fired but no criminal charges,” Kouns, who runs the firm Veracity IIR, said. “Just bring it back, and we’ll let it go, but now that’s not the case.”
Kouns believes the most likely scenario is that someone took the reptiles to keep as pets, not realizing they were making off with some of the world’s rarest tortoises that can sell for thousands of dollars.
“I think the risk-reward of stealing a turtle from the zoo to make a few thousand dollars just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” Kouns said. “That said, it’s not impossible.”
Investigators said they are looking to see if any surveillance video caught the thief. They’re hoping someone will notice something out of place and come forward.
“They could end up in a pet store,” Galaviz said. “They could be in somebody’s personal aquarium somewhere that obviously we don’t know, (the) black market. I think the possibilities run the gamut.”
State police also confirmed that the design of the exhibit would make it easy for someone to reach in and grab the tortoises. Kouns said that will likely change.
“If these things were too easily accessible by the public or unvetted staff, perhaps they will shore that up a little bit,” Kouns said.
Investigators are asking anyone with information on the case to call either the Capitol Police at (317) 234-2131 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.
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