Thieves Steal Rhino Heads from Museum
- 11 years ago
Thieves steal rhino heads from a museum.
Highly valued museum exhibits can be easy targets for thieves.
Recently, several masked men reportedly stole four stuffed rhino heads from the National Museum of Ireland. Three males raided the storeroom and bound the security guard.
The employee was fortunately uninjured and was eventually able to free himself and alert authorities of the theft. The heads are approximately 100 years old and they were removed from the public display last year and put in storage as a precautionary measure.
The heads were mounted by taxidermists and had an estimated value of more than $650,000 on the black market. Three black rhino heads and one white, all from Africa, were taken.
According to a museum spokesperson, the horns “have probably been taken to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn that is used in traditional medicines in the Far East.”
Last year, in another widely covered story from Ireland, St. Laurence O'Toole's 800 year old heart was stolen from Christ Church Cathedral. The heart had been placed inside a wooden heart-shaped box for centuries.
The thief broke through the iron bars, behind where the heart was displayed.
Highly valued museum exhibits can be easy targets for thieves.
Recently, several masked men reportedly stole four stuffed rhino heads from the National Museum of Ireland. Three males raided the storeroom and bound the security guard.
The employee was fortunately uninjured and was eventually able to free himself and alert authorities of the theft. The heads are approximately 100 years old and they were removed from the public display last year and put in storage as a precautionary measure.
The heads were mounted by taxidermists and had an estimated value of more than $650,000 on the black market. Three black rhino heads and one white, all from Africa, were taken.
According to a museum spokesperson, the horns “have probably been taken to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn that is used in traditional medicines in the Far East.”
Last year, in another widely covered story from Ireland, St. Laurence O'Toole's 800 year old heart was stolen from Christ Church Cathedral. The heart had been placed inside a wooden heart-shaped box for centuries.
The thief broke through the iron bars, behind where the heart was displayed.