A stowaway crab found on a plane that landed at Denver International Airport this summer can now be viewed by the public at the Denver Zoo. U.S. Fish and Wildlife was called to the airport in June to rescue the crab after it was found lounging in the main cabin of a flight from Costa Rica.
They delivered it to the Denver Zoo on June 29 where it sat in quarantine to ensure it wasn’t carrying any diseases.
The zoo said blackback land crabs, also known as Halloween Crabs due to coloring that resembles a jack-o-lantern, can range in size from two to four inches. They are also known as Moon Crabs because of their nocturnal tendencies.
This particular Halloween Crab is now out of quarantine and making appearances just in time for Boo at the Zoo. After October, it will scuttle over to its permanent home in the zoo’s Tropical Discovery, which reopens to the public on Oct. 26 after being closed for renovations.
Denver Zoo said it receives lots of rescue animals from strange circumstances across the state.
That includes more than 100 animals from the SeaQuest aquarium that closed in Littleton earlier this year, and sister raccoons named Pecan and Cashew who were rescued in 2021 by Sonflower Ranch and Rescue.
Due to their leucism, a genetic abnormality that causes partial pigment loss, the raccoons were unlikely to survive in the wild.
