"These animals appear to have been deliberately killed in a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia's most loved animals." 
 
 New South Wales wildlife services have labelled the deaths of three platypuses that occurred within the same month as a "despicable act of animal cruelty." 
 
 Two of the three dead platypuses that were found in the Albury Botanic Gardens were decapitated in what is thought to have been a deliberate attack, according to a statement released by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) on Monday. 
 
 WARNING: This post includes a graphic image. 
 
 3 platypus found dead in Albury Botanic Gardens. We are calling on anyone with information to please contact NPWS Tumut office on 6947 7025 — WIRES (@WIRES_NSW) April 11, 2017 
 
 "NPWS is aware that three platypus were found dead in Albury Botanic Gardens in the last five weeks," the statement read. 
 
 "These animals appear to have been deliberately killed in a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia's most loved animals." 
 
 A spokesperson for the NPWS told The Huffington Post Australia on Tuesday that a vet's post mortem examination found two of the platypuses "heads were removed with a sharp object," while the third was found dead but intact. 
 
 A joint investigation team including authorities from the NPWS, Albury City Council and the NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (WIRES) are now looking into the incident and have issued a call out for anyone who may be able to provide any helpful information. 
 
 "We've put the call out for people to ring the [NPWS] Tumut office if they have any information or if they may have seen or heard of anything," the spokesperson told HuffPost Australia. 
 
 "It is an offence under the National Parks and Wildlife Act to harm native animals and penalties include a fine of up to $11,000 and or six months imprisonment. 
 
 "We are calling on anyone with information to please contact NPWS Tumut office on (02) 6947 7025" 
 
 Swine that is doing this needs to be caught 
 
 Two decapitated platypuses among three killed in Albury https://t.co/5by5BEX3ap via @newscomauHQ — Alan (@Oz566) April 11, 2017 
 
 WIRES Murray River secretary Hazel Cook told the Border Mail on Monday the attack did not involve another animal predator, citing the clean severing of the heads and the cut marks left on the platypuses bodies. 
 
 "You could see where it was cut, where the spine was cut. You can actually see where they've tried to cut into the vertebrae," she said. 
 
 "It's very obvious it's not a fox." 
 
 The Albury platypus serial killer ... astoundingly cruel ... https://t.co/YkCyl79DLY — Shane Wright (@swrightwestoz) April 11, 2017 
 
 The NPWS spokesperson also said numbers of platypuses are thought to be quite low in the Albury area, with them rarely being seen in the Botanic Gardens, although they do live in the nearby Murray River. 
 
 The typically shy animals are native to Australia and are found in freshwater bodies in eastern areas of the country, according to the Conservation Institute. 
 
 ALSO ON HUFFPOST AUSTRALIA ||||| Protected species found in botanic gardens, suggesting they were caught in a trap and then dumped 
 
 Authorities in New South Wales are searching for a suspected platypus killer after the bodies of three animals were found dumped in the Albury botanic gardens. 
 
 Two of the animals had been decapitated and all three appeared to be at a healthy body weight when killed, suggesting they had been caught in a trap in the nearby Murray river before being dumped in the park. 
 
 The first carcass was found by a gardener in early March, while the next two were found by members of the public. The nearest platypus habitat is about 400m from the botanic gardens, suggesting they had been carried there and dumped in a high-traffic area. 
 
 The Albury mayor, Kevin Mack, said he was appalled by the incident and the apparently brutal way the animals had been killed. 
 
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 “I’m sure the community will be equally appalled and I encourage anyone with information to come forward,” Mack said. 
 
 The platypus is the animal emblem of New South Wales and is a protected species under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. 
 
 Killing a protected species carries a fine of up to $11,000, or six months imprisonment. 
 
 Hazel Cook, a spokeswoman for the local branch of the Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (Wires), said rescuers originally thought the first platypus may have been killed by foxes but were now sure they had been killed by a human. 
 
 They took the carcass of the most recently killed platypus to a local vet, who confirmed the its head had been cut off, with some difficulty, by a sharp object. 
 
 “As far as we are concerned it’s not a fox and as far as the vet is concerned it is not a fox,” Cook told Guardian Australia. “We would love to be proved wrong. We would love to think that a human would not do this sort of thing. But I don’t think we will be.” 
 
 Cook said she believed the animals had been trapped intentionally and then taken to the gardens. 
 
 “These guys would not have got to the botanic gardens on their own,” she said. “There’s no waterway running through there, just a council drain. We thought at first that they might have been caught accidentally by someone with illegal nets in the river but then why take them to the gardens? Why not just throw the bodies in the river? And why take the heads? We still don’t know what they’ve done with the heads.” 
 
 Cook said it was particularly distressing because the platypus keeps to itself and is quiet. They don’t cause damage and are rarely spotted in the wild, despite a recent survey by the Australian Platypus Conservancy finding the platypus population in the Murray was relatively healthy. 
 
 “These are just gentle little fellas who do no harm,” Cook said. “It’s lovely to see that Australians are so upset about it – we want people to be angry.” 
 
 Cook said there had been other attacks against wildlife in the region in the past few years – kangaroos shot with bows and arrows, and birds of prey shot down over residential areas – but none as brutal as this. 
 
 In a statement, the National Parks and Wildlife Service in NSW said it was working with Wires and Albury city council to investigate the killings. 
 
 “These animals appear to have been deliberately killed in a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia’s most loved animals,” it said. “We are calling on anyone with information to please contact NPWS Tumut office on (02) 6947 7025.” ||||| WILDLIFE authorities are investigating an apparent case of animal cruelty in Albury, with three platypuses found dead in the botanic gardens. 
 
 Two were found decapitated, with a sharp object appearing to have been used. 
 
 Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service Murray River secretary Hazel Cook said they had been found over the past five weeks in different areas of the gardens, with the most recent found last Wednesday. 
 
 “There definitely was no fox involved,” she said. 
 
 “That’s the first thing we thought everyone would think, but we took it to a local vet and had them check it out. 
 
 “You could see were it was cut, where the spine was cut. 
 
 “You can actually see where they’ve tried to cut into the vertebrae. 
 
 “It’s very obvious it’s not a fox.” 
 
 WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW 
 
 
 
 Ms Cook said whoever killed the native animals had wanted them to be found. 
 
 “It’s just sad,” she said. 
 
 “I think they need some help. 
 
 “We have no idea why anyone would do that, especially to something as gentle as a platypus. 
 
 “Even the fact someone caught three of them is concerning.” 
 
 Ms Cook said there was no way to tell if they were alive when their heads were cut off. 
 
 A NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said the incidents were being treated as acts of animal cruelty, and said they were “despicable”. 
 
 KILLED: The body of one of the dead platypuses, which had its head cut off. 
 
 “NPWS is aware that three platypus were found dead in Albury Botanic Gardens in the last five weeks,” she said. 
 
 “These animals appear to have been deliberately killed in a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia’s most loved animals. 
 
 “NPWS is working with AlburyCity council and WIRES to look into these incidents. 
 
 “It is an offence under the National Parks and Wildlife Act to harm native animals and penalties include a fine of up to $11,000 and or six months imprisonment.” 
 
 WIRES volunteers have asked fishermen, canoeists and members of the public to keep a lookout for suspicious activity. 
 
 Albury RSPCA president Arthur Frauenfelder said the attacks would impact the already limited numbers of platypuses in the Murray at Albury. 
 
 “They’re very rare,” he said. 
 
 “This could have wiped out whole sections of the river. 
 
 “They could have came from the same family. 
 
 “They’re usually in small or solitary numbers – it’s not like there’s 20 in the river.”
– Wildlife officials are calling it "a despicable act of cruelty to one of Australia's most loved animals." Over the last five weeks, three platypuses have been killed and dumped in a botanical garden in New South Wales, despite the fact that the animal is protected across the country, the Guardian reports. All three, including two that were beheaded, were found in Albury Botanic Gardens, about a quarter-mile from a river where officials believe they may have been trapped. The first was found in early March by a gardener, while the others were found by visitors. A vet has confirmed the latest animal found last Wednesday had its head removed with a sharp object, ruling out an animal attack. "We still don't know what they've done with the heads" but "you can actually see where they've tried to cut into the vertebrae," a rep for the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service tells the Border Mail. "We have no idea why anyone would do that, especially to something as gentle as a platypus," she adds. Anyone found to have killed a protected Australian species like a platypus, which happens to be the animal emblem of New South Wales, could face up to six months in jail and an $11,000 fine. WIRES, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the Albury City Council are investigating, reports the Huffington Post. (Beheaded animals have also been found in Canada.)