THE theft of nearly $3000 worth of exotic birds from the Wagga Zoo was carried out by a group who knew what they were looking for, according to Wagga City Council horticulture supervisor Michael Cave.
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The thieves broke into the zoo some time between 5pm on Sunday and 6am on Monday, stealing 16 birds from a number of enclosures, with a sale value of $2800, along with five heavy duty padlocks worth $100 each.
Mr Cave said, given the nature of the theft, it was unlikely to have been carried out by just one person.
"I suspect there would've been more than one thief, because some of the cages they got them out are quite big," he said.
"To catch them, you can't just corral them on your own and they would have had to have cages to catch them and carry them out."
Given less exotic birds such as galahs and cockatiels in the enclosures were left undisturbed, with only the more expensive parrots, rosellas and conures taken by the thieves, Mr Cave said it was clear the thieves knew what they were doing.
He's extremely disappointed at the theft, which he has labelled as not just a blow for the zoo, but the community as well.
"It's not like someone individually losing them, it's like the whole community is losing them," he said.
Mr Cave is now calling on people to be alert if someone tries to sell them birds, to ensure they aren't being sold the birds stolen from the zoo.
"If someone goes to sell birds to you and you're not sure where their origin is, ring the police," he said.
"If it's legit it's OK, but if they're ours, we'd really like them back."
Anyone with information regarding the stolen birds should contact Wagga police on 6922 2599 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.