A man in his 20s was booked without detention for allegedly abandoning hundreds of pet reptiles, resulting in many of them starving to death, according to police on Monday.

Heungdeok Police Station in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province said it is investigating the man on suspicion of breaking the Animal Protection Act.

The police said they received a report on October 11 from the landlord of an apartment in the city’s Bokdae-dong neighborhood. The landlord said he had been unable to contact his tenant for several months.

Upon entering the apartment, officers found 80 geckos and 15 snakes dead inside the house.

They also found 152 lizards and four snakes still alive, although they appeared to be in poor health. The surviving reptiles were sent to an animal shelter.

The shelter estimated that the reptiles had been abandoned for about two months based on the state of the carcasses.

After the police report, the tenant reportedly contacted his landlord, claiming he had left the area to work in another city due to financial difficulties.