Alligator
A foot-long freshwater crocodile was rescued which was caged in a large fish tank iStock

Police in Australia found up to 100 reptiles, including snakes, crocodiles, spiders, lizards and frogs from a home in Highton, near Geelong a suburb in Victoria on Wednesday (13 July). Authorities responded to a security alarm and found the reptiles in the house.

A foot-long freshwater crocodile – caged in a fish tank – was also rescued from the house. Some of the reptiles seized by the police were already dead.

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"Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) have been notified and are attending the scene," police spokeswoman Amelia Penhall said.

The government organisation is of the view that the owner of the house could have permission to keep the reptile species; but it was unclear whether he had authorisation to keep such a large number of them at his home.

"It is extremely unusual to have this much wildlife at a residential property," 9news quoted Nathan MacDonald, a DELWP wildlife officer, as saying.

This is not the first case where so many reptiles have been rescued from an Australian home, wildlife authorities along with police and the Australian Border Force had earlier seized 30 reptiles, including two endangered boa constrictors, from a residential property in Perth earlier in the month.

It was found that the house owner, a 32-year-old Baldivis man, was allegedly kept the animals as pets without a licence.