Police are shell-ebrating after a tortoise stolen from a reptile park in Warkworth was found nearly 300km away in Northland thanks to a youngster’s birthday.
The 17-year-old male leopard tortoise, along with an 8-year-old female green iguana, were stolen from Ti Point Reptile Park, near Leigh on the Hauraki Gulf, on March 19 or 20.
Warkworth police urgently appealed to the public for help to find the stolen animals, as fears grew they would be sold illegally.
Police said it was thought there was a black-market breeding programme involving leopard tortoises, which are the fourth-largest tortoise in the world. They can reach a maximum weight of up to 40kg, but usually weigh 10-15kg.
However, the slow-moving investigation took a turn for the better when a Northland woman phoned the reptile park saying someone had given her daughter a tortoise for her birthday.