The Dallas Zoo on Monday increased its reward to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspects responsible for stealing two emperor monkey monkeys from their habitat.
The monkeys, named Bella and Finn, were placed in the closet of an abandoned home in the Dallas suburb of Lancaster, 15 miles south of the zoo, by police on Tuesday evening.
“Both started eating and drinking immediately after the team completed the health checks [Tuesday]said the zoo.
“They won’t be going back into the habitat for a while – because they were taken out of the ground, they will need to finish the quarantine period before being reintroduced to their zoo.”
An animal care team discovered the primates were missing on Monday morning, with the zoo saying it was “clear that the habitat had been deliberately compromised.”
The zoo offers the public a peek at endangered sun bears that were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
The Dallas Police Department released a photo of a man who may have information about the burglary, but no arrests had been made as of Wednesday afternoon.
(Dallas Police Department)
Police are also investigating two other habitats where the animals were deliberately cut down in recent weeks, as well as the death of an endangered vulture under “unusual” circumstances.
Nova, a clouded cheetah, escaped from her habitat on January 13, sparking an hours-long search that ended when crews found her on the ground.
According to the police, the emperor monkey was found in the closet of an abandoned house around 4:50 pm on Tuesday.
(Dallas Police Department)
In this undated photo provided by the Dallas Zoo, Nova, a clouded leopard, rests on a tree limb in a wall.
(Dallas Zoo via AP)
The zoo said it would add additional security cameras and night patrols amid the strange series of incidents.
“We will continue to implement and expand our safety and security measures as necessary to keep our animals and staff safe,” the Dallas Zoo said last week.
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