Stolen snake found after eating a tagged woylie

A stolen two-metre carpet python has been recovered after Australian authorities homed in on a tracking device attached to an endangered animal which the snake had devoured.

The snake was taken from the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation's Woodvale Research Centre sometime between June 19 and 22.


The python ate the woylie, which is a small mammal, in the wild at Narrogin, complete with transmitter, and was brought to the centre so the tracking device could be removed from the snake.

Conservation department officers in a plane yesterday traced the signal to a house in Heathridge yesterday afternoon. The officers and WA Police recovered the animal. Joondalup Police have charged a 31-year-old Heathridge man with receiving stolen goods.