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Dallas Zoo says tamarin monkeys that went missing for a day are healthy and uninjured



CNN
 — 

The emperor tamarin monkeys that disappeared from the Dallas Zoo earlier this week but were recovered by police in an abandoned home on Tuesday are healthy and uninjured, the zoo said.

“Emperor tamarin monkeys, Bella and Finn, were so happy to snuggle into their nest sack here at the Zoo last night!” the zoo said on Facebook. “Our veterinary and animal care teams have said, beyond losing a bit of weight, they show no signs of injury and both started eating and drinking almost immediately once the team completed health exams on Tuesday night.”

The zoo said the monkeys will go through a quarantine period before being returned to their zoo habitat.

The zoo also noted that video from their surveillance cameras released on Tuesday “seems to have been critical in generating a tip that led to the recovery of the tamarins.” Further, there is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible, the zoo said.

The health update comes two days after the zoo said that two tamarin monkeys were missing and that their habitat had been “intentionally compromised.” The Dallas Police said they had reason to believe the monkeys were taken, the zoo said.

The disappearance followed a series of suspicious incidents at the zoo in the last month involving a leopard, langur monkeys and a vulture, all of which have led to a hike in security.

After a tip, the missing tamarin monkeys were found Tuesday inside a closet in an abandoned home in Lancaster, about 15 miles away from the zoo. The police released a photo of one monkey in the closet, standing atop what looked like fencing.

“We are thrilled beyond belief to share that our two emperor tamarin monkeys have been found,” the Dallas Zoo said Tuesday evening. “They will be evaluated by our veterinarians this evening.”

Elsewhere, a Louisiana zoo reported the weekend theft of 12 squirrel monkeys.

The Dallas Zoo learned Monday the duo of emperor tamarin monkeys was missing from their enclosure, it said.

Dallas police concluded the monkeys’ habitat was intentionally cut open, and it was “believed the animals were intentionally taken from the enclosure,” they said.

The zoo was closed Monday due to inclement weather, it earlier had announced, with the closure extended through Wednesday due to an ice storm.

How the animals left the zoo and got the abandoned house in Lancaster is still a mystery.

Police on Tuesday released surveillance video and a photo of an unidentified man they said they were searching for and want to interview. Police have not said why they want to speak to him or when the footage was recorded, and they’ve asked the public to contact them at 214-671-4509 with any information.

The surveillance video shows a man walking slowly down a nearly empty zoo sidewalk, looking back and forth as he moves. Another person is seen in the background walking in the opposite direction.

The photo shows a man wearing a navy hooded sweatshirt and a navy and red beanie cap while eating a bag of Doritos.

Zoo officials said Wednesday that security is being tightened.

“Although our security program had worked in the past, it has become obvious that we need to make significant changes,” officials said in a written statement. “Words cannot express the frustration our team is feeling.”

Security upgrades include more cameras and more than doubling the number of security patrols as well as increasing the number of people working overnight, installing more fencing and adding other unspecified security technology, according to the news release.

A few other strange developments with animals have unfolded in recent weeks at the Dallas Zoo.

A clouded leopard named Nova disappeared January 13, and the zoo closed to search for the animal.

Police launched a criminal investigation after they found the fence around Nova’s enclosure had been “intentionally cut,” they said. Later that day, Nova was found near her habitat.

Meanwhile, zoo staff observed a similar cut to the enclosure of some langur monkeys, but none of them had escaped, the zoo said.

Police did not immediately determine whether the two incidents were related.

The incidents prompted the zoo to ramp up security, including installing more cameras and boosting overnight security personnel and staffing, its president and CEO Gregg Hudson said. Restrictions were also placed on animals’ ability to go outside overnight, he added.

Then, a lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead January 21 in his habitat. “Circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes,” the zoo said in a statement.

The bird’s death was “suspicious” and it suffered “an unusual wound and injuries,” Hudson said.

The zoo is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the vulture’s death.

While the incidents at the Dallas Zoo and the monkey thefts at Zoosiana in Broussard, Louisiana, have raised general security concerns, at least one zoo in Florida is not stepping up security.

There are “several security measures already in place in Zoo Miami” and only so much that can be done, said Ron Magill, wildlife expert and Zoo Miami spokesperson.

“If someone wants to get in and is determined,” he told CNN, “they’re going to find a way.”



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Dallas Zoo says its missing tamarin monkeys have been found



CNN
 — 

Two emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were found Tuesday, the zoo said.

“We are thrilled beyond belief to share that our two emperor tamarin monkeys have been found,” the zoo said in a statement.

Dallas police located the animals early Tuesday evening, the zoo said, without immediately releasing details about how they were found. The zoo earlier said the animals were believed to have been stolen Monday.

Police “called our team to come secure and transport the tamarins back to the Zoo,” the zoo said. The monkeys will be evaluated by veterinarians Tuesday evening, according to the zoo.

Dallas police earlier said its preliminary investigation found the emperor tamarin monkeys’ habitat had been intentionally cut open and “it is believed the animals were intentionally taken from the enclosure.”

Police had also released surveillance video and a photo of an unidentified man they wanted to speak to in regard to the two missing tamarin monkeys. “Dallas police are looking for the public’s help in identifying the pictured individual,” they wrote.

In the surveillance video, the man can be seen walking slowly down a nearly empty zoo sidewalk, looking back and forth as he moves. A second person also can be seen in the background, but that person walks in the opposite direction.

In the still image, the man is wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and a navy and red beanie cap and is eating a bag of Doritos.

The investigation comes after a series of suspicious animal incidents this month at the Dallas Zoo. The zoo said it believed two of its emperor tamarin monkeys were stolen after they were discovered missing from their enclosure Monday.

“Emperor tamarin monkeys would likely stay close to home – the Zoo searched near their habitat and across Zoo grounds and did not locate them,” the zoo said in a statement Monday.

Earlier Monday, the zoo said it would be closed for the day due to inclement weather. The closure was later extended through Wednesday due to an ice storm impacting the area, the zoo said.

This is the fourth time this month that the zoo has discovered its animals or their enclosures may have been tampered with, including the “unusual” circumstances surrounding the death of a vulture last week, according to the zoo.

The string of events began January 13 when a clouded leopard named Nova disappeared, prompting the zoo to close as they searched for the animal. Dallas police opened a criminal investigation after it was discovered that the fence around Nova’s enclosure had been “intentionally cut,” police said.

While the feline was found close to her habitat later that day, zoo personnel also found a similar cut had been made to the enclosure of some langur monkeys. Despite the new escape route, none of the monkeys left their habitat, the zoo said. Police said at the time that it was “unknown if the two incidents are related.”

Following the incidents, the zoo installed additional security cameras, more than doubled its overnight security personnel, increased its overnight staffing, and began limiting some animals’ ability to go outside overnight, President and CEO Gregg Hudson said.

But less than two weeks after the first discoveries, a vulture named Pin was found dead in his habitat. Hudson called the bird’s death “suspicious” and said “an unusual wound and injuries” indicated Pin did not die from natural causes.

The zoo is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the vulture’s death.

Dallas police are investigating all four incidents. A spokesperson said last week that the department is collaborating with US Fish and Wildlife on the investigations.



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