Miss Helen, a female grey horn shark, had been driven away from San Antonio aquarium in a pickup truck

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A shark abducted from a petting tank at a Texas aquarium and smuggled out in a pram has been found and returned.

The female grey horn shark, known as Miss Helen, was grabbed from the open pool in San Antonio aquarium by two men and a woman, then wrapped in a wet blanket.

Surveillance footage shows the suspects bundling the 40cm shark, still dripping water, into a pram before pushing it to a pickup truck and driving off from the aquarium.

Police said the shark was carried in the pram in a bucket.

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The vehicle was tracked down on Monday and one suspect was charged for the abduction.

Leon Valley police chief, Joseph Salvaggio, said two other suspects, a man and a woman, were being questioned in connection with the theft.

“When we got into the garage and into the house it looked like almost a mock-up of [the San Antonio aquarium],” he told told San Antonio TV station KSAT. “He knew very much what he was doing and kept that animal alive.”

Salvaggio said he believed the shark had been stolen to replace one in the suspect’s collection that had died, rather than to be sold on.

In a comment on their Facebook page, the aquarium said Miss Helen was resting in quarantine. “She is doing good so far, and we are hopeful she will recover fully from the shock, and return to her home she is used to,” it said.

The aquarium added: “We value the lives of all of our animals and take pride in the care that we are able to give them as well as the education that we are able to give to the general public about these treasured species.”

The horn shark is native to the California coast and can grow to one metre in length. It feeds off molluscs and small fish and is considered harmless to humans.