The 2 monkeys reportedly stolen from the Dallas Zoo were found alive inside an abandoned home Tuesday — shortly after police released a picture of an individual of interest within the bizarre case.
The emperor tamarin monkeys were recovered from a house in Lancaster, Texas — just outside of downtown Dallas, a day after the theft, Dallas police and the zoo announced.
“We’re thrilled beyond belief to share that our two emperor tamarin monkeys have been found,” the Dallas Zoo said in a press release.
The small, white-bearded monkeys were brought back to their habitat and can be evaluated by veterinarians, the zoo added.
Earlier Tuesday, the department released a photograph of a person who investigators need to speak to concerning the animals.
Staffers on the zoo had discovered the 2 monkeys were gone Monday morning and noted that their enclosure “had been intentionally compromised.”
Investigators had believed the primates were taken because they wouldn’t have gone removed from their home. Employees searched across the zoo grounds and didn’t find the animals.
The formerly missing monkeys were just the newest odd and unsettling occurrence on the Dallas Zoo this month which have led staffers to consider someone has been tampering with the animals.
First, a 4-year-old clouded leopard named Nova disappeared from her enclosure on Jan. 13, causing the zoo to shut down for a day as staffers looked for the feline.
The leopard was eventually found near her habitat hours after she was reported missing. Police said someone had used a tool to chop a gap within the fencing of her habitat.
Investigators discovered an analogous opening in an enclosure of langur monkeys, but not one of the monkeys escaped.
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About per week later, on Jan. 21, zoo staffers found an endangered vulture named Pin dead. The zoo said the vulture had suffered “a wound” and that his death was not believed to be natural.
“This goes from being about malicious and gets into really criminal intent that’s dangerous,” Dallas Zoo President and CEO Gregg Hudson told reporters during a press conference two days later, in response to the local CBS News station. “I’ve been within the zoo career over 30-plus years, and never had a situation like what happened Saturday. It’s unprecedented and really disturbing.”
Pin was one in all just 27 lappet-faced vultures in captivity within the US. He had lived on the Dallas Zoo for the past 33 years and fathered 11 offspring, the outlet reported.
Following the vulture’s death, the zoo installed additional security cameras with night vision to the grounds and increased onsite security during overnight hours.
Dallas police said the pictured person of interest is needed for questioning regarding the emperor tamarin monkeys. It’s unknown if the identical man is believed to be connected to the prior acts of vandalism on the zoo.
It’s unclear if there have been any arrests after the monkeys were recovered.
