Police are investigating after two eastern water dragons were stolen from a wildlife sanctuary in Nelson over Labour Weekend.
The reptiles, Marge and Scauldron, were taken from their enclosure at the Natureland Wildlife Trust, in Tahunanui, following two separate break-ins on Friday night and early Monday morning.
A third water dragon, Lisa, is now on her own in the House of the Dragons enclosure.
Natureland staff say the thefts are among four break-ins in recent weeks, with two earlier incidents over the school holidays involving damages to the lemur and kākā enclosures and animals being set loose.
Manager Ruth Seabright told 1News the string of break-ins has "been really sad”.
After the first break-in, staff "thought at the time that was probably just a one-off thing but then sadly, a week later, we had another break-in", she said.
“We increased our security measures and then over Labour Weekend, we had two more break-ins and in those two, they actually stole two water dragons."
Seabright said it's believed the suspects were disturbed after the first incident on Friday night and had returned to finish the job.
“It seems premeditated, they’re quite determined."
She said staff at the conservation and education hub "love and care for these animals and this place means a lot to us".
"We have 132-ish individual animals here on this site and each one of them is like a member of our whānau so someone’s come and taken one of our family away.”
Animal care team leader Jos Kater, who was at the site when the thefts took place, said he felt a “rollercoaster” of emotions after learning of the news from security.
“Upset, angry – just a lot of different emotions came through," he said.
"At first a little bit like disbelief, afterwards anger and sadness and then in my head, just 'what now? What are we doing to do now?'"
Kater said Marge came to Natureland with Lisa from Rotorua's Rainbow Springs Nature Park in 2014.
Scauldron, meanwhile, was found in a person's backyard by a cat in 2018 and has "ongoing medical issues" stemming from his ordeal.
"Him being lost is not just a worry for us as him as part of our family, but also knowing what medical issues he has and that he might not get the proper treatment at the moment that he needs," he said.
"We just want them back. I don't even mind if the person themselves does it or has someone else – just bring them back.
"Just bring them back. We just want them back."
Staff member Alix Rimmer said she "felt violated" and "very shocked" after learning of the thefts of the water dragons.
“When you work in this environment, we spend more time with our animals than we do with our actual families and they are a part of us and so it’s gutting – absolutely gutting,” she said.
Seabright called on people to "be vigilant and to spot any suspicious behaviour".
"They are coming sometimes when it is still daylight so we know there’s lots of people around here at the beach reserve so someone is going to be seeing something.
“If you notice somebody with a water dragon, give us a call. If you’ve seen some suspicious behaviour, if you’ve seen people casing the joint, give us a call – let us know what you know.”
Anyone with information has been urged to contact police referencing 221024/4330, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
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