Man charged with taking platypus on train ride and shopping trip in Australia

Police believe wild animal was stolen from its natural habitat in Queensland

Police in Queensland on Thursday released these images of a man carrying a wild platypus at a train station near Brisbane, Australia. AFP

Forget the Hollywood thriller Snakes on a Plane, an Australian man is in trouble for allegedly taking a platypus on a train.

Police launched an appeal after the 26 year old was spotted accompanied by a woman on a suburban train with a wild platypus wrapped in a towel.

The man is accused of removing the animal from a waterway in northern Queensland before taking it on a train trip to a shopping centre.

He is due to appear in court on Saturday over alleged animal protection offences.

"It will be further alleged the pair were observed showing the animal to members of the public at the shopping centre," Queensland police said.

Railway officers caught the man and have spoken to his female companion, police said.

But the fate of the platypus remains a mystery.

"Police were advised the animal was released into the Caboolture river and has not yet been located by authorities," police said.

"Its condition is unknown."

CCTV photos from Tuesday showed a man wearing flip-flops carrying the animal, about the size of kitten, under his arm as he walked along a train platform north of Brisbane.

Under Queensland's conservation laws, it is illegal to take a platypus from the wild, with a maximum fine of US $288,000.

"Taking a platypus from the wild is not only illegal, but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs," police said.

"If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in the wild, keep your distance."

British scientists in the late 18th century thought they were being hoaxed when they saw their first platypus ― the unusual animal has webbed feet, a stubby tail like a beaver's and the bill of a duck.

The animals are native to Australia's freshwater rivers and are part of a rare group of mammals — the monotremes — that lay eggs.