2 men steal echidna from Australian wildlife zoo

One of only 20 captive breeding echidnas in the world has been stolen from its home at an Australian wildlife zoo.

The spine-covered ant-eating marsupial called Piggie was stolen by two men over the weekend from their Gold Coast park in southern Queensland, it was reported on Monday.

Four-year-old Piggie, a breeding female, was snatched from her nest and police and wildlife authorities were trying to find her on Monday.

Images of the men were captured on security cameras, but they masked their faces and the only lead police have is that one of the men has a diamond-shaped tattoo on his arm.

Zoo officials were concerned for Piggie's welfare as echidnas need specialized care and feeding.

A vet from the Sanctuary said he cannot understand what motivated the men as there was no market for echidnas.

The park's senior vet, Michael Pyne, said security camera footage showed the raid was highly organized.

"They went from echidna enclosure to enclosure and they tried two of our larger girls first who really don't like being handled, " he told reporters.

"Echidnas are very difficult to pick up and they gave up on these and went to one of our younger echidnas who are a lot friendlier and managed to catch her." he said.

Police said the men cut away netting to gain access to an enclosure containing other echidnas.

Echidnas, along with platypuses, are the only warm-blooded mammals to lay eggs before raising their young in pouches. Endi