Residents of Coney Island say that the local boardwalk has become more of a zoo since the summer started.  

Last Thursday, officers from the Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad came to Coney Island after someone called them about a spotting of exotic animals on the boardwalk, where they found a python and caimon. The squad approached the owner, gave them a summons and the owner then brought those animals to the Animal Care Centers of New York City.  

Officers from the 60th Precinct also responded to a call about a wallaby spotted on the boardwalk, and the owner was given a summons for possession of a wild marsupial. That animal is now being taken care of on Long Island by the Save the Animals Rescue Foundation.  

The Animal Care Centers of New York City provided the following statement regarding the wallaby spotted:

“The wallaby is currently on a legal hold and is being housed at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Long Island. It is inappropriate and inhumane to force a wild animal to live as a pet in a densely populated city, and there are no approved rabies vaccinations for wallabies or other marsupials. For these reasons it is illegal to keep a wallaby in New York City.”