A $25,000 reward for information has been offered after bizarre goings on at a zoo where two monkeys and a leopard went missing.
Dallas Zoo have now recovered two emperor tamarin monkeys that were taken from their enclosures but it is offering money to try and find out who was behind it.
The aim is to try and get to the bottom of several incidents with a leopard also having escaped following a tear in her enclosure and a vulture was also found dead having suffered a “wound”.
Dallas police located the two monkeys called Bella and Finn last Tuesday in an abandoned home in the Lancaster suburb of the city after being given a tip off.
The discovery was made after cops released a surveillance photo of the man they wanted to speak to over the monkeys’ disappearance, but it is reported that the person is no longer seen as a person of interest by the police.
Dallas Zoo has said the monkeys had lost a bit of weight but were otherwise fine.
“Emperor tamarin monkeys, Bella and Finn, were so happy to snuggle into their nest sack here at the Zoo last night! Our vet and animal care teams have said, beyond losing a bit of weight, they show no signs of injury,” it tweeted.
“Both started eating and drinking almost immediately once the team completed health exams on Tues. They will not return to the habitat for a while - because they were taken off-grounds, they will need to clear a quarantine period before they are reintroduced to their Zoo habitat.
“We cannot thank the Dallas PD enough for their quick response and assistance in locating the tamarins. We are pleased that video from our surveillance cameras – which we shared with DPD – seems to have been critical in generating a tip that led to the recovery of the tamarins.”
The zoo also said that it was now offering $25,000 for information over what happened.
“We can also announce that the Zoo is increasing the reward to $25,000 for information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person(s) responsible for these incidents,” it stated.
Last month Nova, a cloud leopard, escaped from an enclosure which had a tear and was later found unharmed the same day, while a day later another cut was discovered in the same enclosure but fortunately no animals left.
And sadly an endangered lappet-faced vulture, Pin, was found dead in an enclosure.
The zoo tweeted: “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.”
It later added: "We're so grateful for the support we've received as we comprehend the unexpected loss of our 35-year-old lappet-faced vulture, Pin. Losing him is devastating not only to our Zoo family but also to the conservation efforts of this species. Pin will be missed dearly by everyone."
