Monkeys taken from Dallas Zoo in newest suspicious incident
DALLAS (AP) — Two monkeys had been taken from the Dallas Zoo on Monday, police stated, the most recent in a string of wierd incidents on the attraction being investigated — together with fences being cut and the suspicious dying of an endangered vulture previously few weeks.
No arrests have been made in any of the investigations, and police haven’t stated whether or not the incidents are linked.
Dallas police stated they consider somebody reduce a gap in an enclosure and took two emperor tamarin monkeys, small primates with lengthy whiskers that appear to be a mustache.
“It was clear the habitat had been deliberately compromised,” the zoo stated in a press release that provided few different particulars.
The incident follows the Jan. 13 closure of the zoo and a daylong search when a clouded leopard named Nova went missing.
She was ultimately discovered close to her habitat, however police stated a instrument had been used to chop a gap in its fencing. An identical gash additionally was present in an enclosure of langur monkeys, although none bought out.
On Jan. 21, an endangered vulture named Pin was discovered lifeless, and the zoo stated the dying didn’t look like pure. Zoo President and CEO Gregg Hudson stated the vulture had “a wound.”
Ed Hansen, chief government of the American Affiliation of Zoo Keepers, stated he couldn’t recall a zoo going through comparable incidents with such frequency.
“It seems that someone actually has a problem with the Dallas Zoo,” Hansen stated.
Hansen, who described the Dallas Zoo’s repute as “glorious” throughout the business, stated accredited zoos have double-perimeter fencing and {that a} zoo as massive as Dallas’ would have a safety patrol.
The zoo has stated that it has added extra cameras and elevated in a single day safety patrols.
The zoo stated Monday that the 2 emperor tamarin monkeys which have gone lacking would probably keep close to their habitat — however {that a} search of the zoo grounds failed to search out them.
Animals have escaped enclosures from the Dallas Zoo earlier than. Most notably, a 340-pound (154-kilogram) gorilla named Jabari jumped over a wall in 2004 and went on a 40-minute rampage that injured three individuals earlier than police shot and killed the animal.
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Weber contributed to this report from Austin, Texas.