A dozen squirrel monkeys were stolen from a Louisiana zoo Saturday, lower than two days earlier than a pair of monkeys were stolen from the Dallas Zoo, officials say.
The one that stole the animals in Louisiana broke into Zoosiana in Broussard — a metropolis about 7 miles southeast of Lafayette — simply earlier than midnight and stole the animals from a squirrel monkey exhibit, the zoo stated in a Fb submit.
“It’s a very unhappy state of affairs, clearly, we’re heartbroken,” Zoosania Basic Supervisor Matt Oldenburg instructed the NBC affiliate KLAF of Lafayette.
The zoo’s veterinarian and animal care group have inspected the remaining monkeys and decided “there aren’t any different obvious points affecting their well being or well-being.”
Zoo officials are working with native, state and federal businesses to research the theft, in accordance with the Fb submit. Broussard Police Chief Vance Olivier instructed KLAF that authorities are reviewing surveillance footage from across the zoo to attempt to find a suspect, who will face a housebreaking cost.
The theft occurred lower than two days earlier than the pair of emperor tamarin monkeys were reported lacking from their enclosure on the Dallas Zoo in what investigators believed was a theft. These monkeys were discovered Tuesday within the closet of an deserted residence in Lancaster, a metropolis about 16 miles south of Dallas. The monkeys have been returned to the Dallas Zoo, no arrests have been made and an investigation into the animals’ disappearance is ongoing, the division stated.
The theft of the monkeys in Dallas was the most recent in a string of suspicious occasions to happen on the zoo: a 35-year-old endangered vulture was discovered useless there Jan. 21 with what authorities described as “an uncommon wound.”
Earlier within the month, a clouded leopard escaped its enclosure after it was deliberately reduce, in accordance with authorities, who stated the langur monkey habitat space was additionally reduce however none of these animals escaped. The leopard was finally captured and returned to its enclosure.
A spokesperson for the zoo beforehand stated it has tightened safety by including extra in a single day guards and cameras. The zoo additionally provided a $10,000 reward for info resulting in an arrest and an indictment within the incidents, in accordance with the spokesperson.
A Dallas Police Division spokesperson instructed NBC Information the company is conscious of the theft of the monkeys in Louisiana and that it is “going to be a part of the continuing investigation.”
A spokesperson for the Broussard Police Division couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
Squirrel monkeys are native to South America and have a mean lifespan of 21 years, in accordance with Animal Range Internet, a web-based database maintained by the College of Michigan. They reside in teams of as much as 300 monkeys, “with the females forming the central core of the group,” in accordance with the database, which provides that they’ll reside simply in captivity and were as soon as bought as pets.
