A MAN is due to appear in court tomorrow after being charged with the theft of two Humboldt penguins and three macaws from South Lakes Safari Zoo.
Bradley Thomas Tomes, 25, of Tarleton in Preston, is also accused of burglary after allegedly trespassing and stealing 12 spoonbill birds from an aviary.
The Hesketh Lane resident has also been accused of three other offences that relate to selling and attempting to sell the animals.
Mr Tomes was accused of stealing the penguins and macaws on October 27, 2018 and the spoonbills on July 22, 2018.
The other three charges relate to transporting to sell and attempting and offering to sell them all date to December 19, 2018.
He will appear at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court in Barrow tomorrow morning.
The Humboldt penguin is a South American penguin living mainly in the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve in the North of Chile, although its habitat comprises most of coastal Chile and Peru.
The species are listed as vulnerable on the endangered list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature with no population recovery plan in place.
The current population is composed of 32,000 mature individuals and is decreasing.
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