Two monkeys have disappeared from Dallas Zoo, with zoo bosses believing they have been stolen.
The zoo alerted the authorities after discovering that two emperor tamarin monkeys had vanished from their enclosure.
Dallas Zoo said it was ‘clear’ that the ‘habitat had been intentionally compromised’ and that the Dallas Police Department also believed they had been taken.
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In a statement on Twitter, the zoo said: “On Monday morning (January 30), Dallas Zoo alerted the Dallas Police Department after the animal care team discovered two of our emperor tamarin monkeys were missing. It was clear the habitat had been intentionally compromised.
“Emperor tamarin monkeys would likely stay close to home - the Zoo searched near their habitat and across Zoo grounds, and did not locate them.
"Based on the Dallas Police Department’s initial assessment, they have reason to believe the tamarins were taken.
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“This is an active Dallas Police Department investigation. This is all the information we are able to share at this time.”
This is the fourth incident at the zoo in recent weeks - earlier this month, a clouded leopard named Nova escaped her habitat after the fence was intentionally cut open.
Fortunately, she was found several hours later following an extensive search by zoo staff.
In a statement after the Nova was found, the zoo said: “We are thrilled to report we located clouded leopard Nova on-grounds at the Zoo this afternoon at approximated 4.40pm. She was located very near the original habitat, and teams were able to safely secure her just before 5.15pm.
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“Initial indications are that she is not injured. She is being evaluated by our veterinary staff right now.”
And just last week, a lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead in ‘suspicious’ circumstances.
In a statement, the zoo said: "This weekend, our staff found that one of the endangered vultures in our Wilds of Africa habitats had died.
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"The animal care team is heartbroken over this tremendous loss. Please keep them in your thoughts as they process what has happened.
"The circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes. Given the recent incidents at the Zoo, we alerted the Dallas Police Department.
"We cannot share many details until Dallas PD has had more time to look into this matter."
In response to the unusual incidents, the zoo said it had ‘added additional cameras throughout the Zoo and increased onsite security patrols during the overnight hours’ and vowed to ‘continue to implement and expand our safety and security measures to whatever level necessary to keep our animals and staff safe’.
Claire Reid