TOKYO, NOV 25 – Police in Japan previously thought there was a shoe thief at a kindergarten in the southwest of the country. However, security camera footage revealed the real culprit was some kind of otter.
Video footage shows the mammal carrying a small shoe in its mouth. The discovery occurred after police installed three security cameras at the kindergarten in Fukuoka prefecture.
“It was a great relief because it was finally found that it was not human,” said Deputy Chief of Police, Hiroaki Inada The Associated Press, yesterday. Teachers and parents previously worried that he might be a problematic individual with a habit of stealing shoes.
According to Japanese customs, shoes are usually removed before entering a building. The missing shoe is a white canvas type shoe slip-on which the children use inside the building and keep on a shelf near the entrance.
Beavers are known to like hiding things and owners of beavers as pets usually give them toys to hide.
Before the police were called, the beaver had taken 15 pairs of shoes. Six more shoes were missing the next day. The beaver returned on November 11 and stole another shoe. Video footage of the incident was seen the next day.
“We are very relieved,” Gosho Kodomo-en Kindergarten Director Yoshihide Saito told a Japanese broadcasting station. RKB Mainichi Broadcasting.
Kindergarten children also laughed when they saw the video of the beaver. Although the stolen shoes were not found, security measures were taken by installing traps on shoe racks to prevent similar incidents. The wild beaver believed to be responsible for the incident is still at large. – AP