An emperor tamarin monkey that had disappeared from the Dallas Zoo has been found in the closet of an abandoned house.
DOCUMENT / @DALLASPD / AFP
- A man has been arrested for stealing emperor tamarins from a zoo in the United States.
- The Dallas Zoo has been hit with a series of unusual incidents involving their animals lately.
- The missing monkeys were found in an abandoned house in Lancaster.
A 24-year-old man has been arrested for the theft of two emperor tamarin monkeys from the Dallas Zoo, police said Friday, adding that he was arrested after he was spotted at the city’s aquarium.
The zoo has been hit by a recent spate of missing animals and other bizarre incidents, including a breach in the enclosure of a clouded leopard which was later found in the zoo grounds.
The two missing monkeys were discovered in an abandoned house in Lancaster, 25km away, a day after they went missing on Monday.
Police had released a photograph of a man wearing a hoodie and asked the public to help identify him.
“Dallas Police received a tip (Davion) Irvin was seen at the Dallas Aquarium near animal exhibits,” police said in a statement.
Irvin boarded a subway train and was arrested after disembarking. He was charged with six counts of animal cruelty and taken to county jail.
An endangered lappet-faced vulture at the zoo was recently found dead from an injury in what authorities said were “unusual” circumstances.
Additional security cameras and increased night patrols have been introduced to protect the animals.
Emperor tamarins are small monkeys with long white whiskers that grow up from their face and are named for their resemblance to German Emperor Wilhelm II.
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