Man who stole shark in pushchair says he is 'an activist not criminal'

Surveillance video of the theft shows two men and a woman grabbing the animal from a petting tank and later wheeling it away

A man accused of stealing a shark from a US aquarium has said he did so because he was concerned about the creature's wellbeing.

Anthony Shannon has been charged with theft for stealing the horn shark on Saturday from the San Antonio Aquarium in Texas.

The theft was captured on surveillance video. It shows two men and a woman grabbing the grey horn shark, less than 2ft long, from a petting tank and later wheeling it away in a pushchair.

The shark was recovered on Monday night from Mr Shannon's home.

Mr Shannon told San Antonio TV station Kens that he is an “activist, not a criminal”. He said he became concerned about aquarium conditions and had posed as a salt distributor about a month ago to take water samples.

The dripping shark, known to aquarium staff as Helen, was put into a bright orange pickup truck used as a getaway vehicle, footage showed.

A member of aquarium staff challenged the group but was unable to stop them leaving, according to local reports.

“The suspects staked out the pool for more than an hour” before making their move, the aquarium said in a statement.

Police chief Joseph Salvaggio said the truck used in the heist was recovered on Monday evening.

He said: “The individual obviously had some knowledge on how to deal with these types of animals, we said that from the very beginning, otherwise why take it?

“And when we got into the garage and into the house, it looked like almost a mock-up of [the aquarium].

“He had a lot of different marine animals in the home. He very much knew what he was doing – kept that animal alive and was able to continue to see that animal thrive which was pretty shocking to all of us.”

The aquarium said its animals are well cared for and water quality is tested daily.

Additional reporting by AP