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[Breaking news top, published at 8:xx p.m ET]
Two emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were found in the closet of an abandoned home in a south Dallas suburb after investigators received a tip, police said Tuesday.
“Dallas police received a tip that monkeys may be in an abandoned home in Lancaster,” the department said Tuesday evening. “Dallas police, along with Lancaster police, went to the house, found the house empty and monkeys in a closet.”
A tweet before the police Photograph They said they wanted to speak to a man about the missing animals. Investigators still want to speak with the man, Dallas police spokeswoman Christine Lowman told CNN Tuesday night.
Police did not elaborate on why they wanted to speak with the man, and no arrests have been made.
Lancaster is a town about 15 miles south of the zoo.
[Original story, published at 7:51 p.m. ET]
Two emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were found Tuesday, the zoo said.
“We are incredibly excited to share the discovery of our two emperor tiger monkeys,” the zoo said in a statement.
Dallas police found the animals Tuesday evening, the zoo said, not immediately releasing details about how they were found. The animals are believed to have been stolen from the zoo on Monday.
Police “called our team to come safely and take the tigers back to the zoo,” the zoo said. According to the zoo, the monkeys will be evaluated by veterinarians on Tuesday evening.
Dallas police said earlier that its preliminary investigation found that the emperor tiger monkeys’ habitat had been deliberately cut, and that “the animals are believed to have been deliberately taken from enclosures”.
There was also the police He released a surveillance video and photo They wanted to speak to an unidentified man about two missing tamarins. “Dallas police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the man in the picture,” they said wrote.
In surveillance video, the man can be seen walking slowly down the corridors of the nearly empty zoo, looking back and forth as he moves. A second person can also be seen in the background, but that person is walking in the opposite direction.
In the still image, the man is wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and a navy and red beanie hat and is eating a bag of Doritos.
The investigation follows a series of suspicious animal incidents this month Dallas Zoo. The zoo said it believed two of its emperor tamer monkeys were stolen after they were found missing from their enclosure on Monday.
“Emperor tiger monkeys stay close to home – the zoo has searched near their habitat and throughout the zoo grounds but has not found them,” the zoo said in a statement. Report Monday.
Earlier Monday, the zoo said it would Closed Due to the day Bad weather. The closure was extended into Wednesday as the snowstorm impacted the area Zoo said.
This is the fourth time this month that a zoo may have had its animals or their enclosures vandalized. “extraordinary” According to the zoo, the circumstances surrounding the death of an eagle last week.
The string of events began on January 13 A clouded leopard named Noah has disappeared, prompting the zoo to close while they search for the animal. Dallas police launched a criminal investigation after it was discovered that the fence surrounding Noah’s enclosure had been “deliberately cut.”
Although the cat was found near her residence later that day, zoo workers also found a similar cut. Enclosure of some langur monkeys. Despite the new escape route, none of the monkeys escaped their habitat, the zoo said. It is not known if the two incidents are related,” police said at the time.
Following the incidents, the zoo installed additional security cameras, doubled its overnight security staff, increased its overnight staffing and began restricting the ability of some animals to go out overnight, president and CEO Greg Hudson said. said.
But within two weeks of the first discoveries, there was an eagle named Pin He was found dead at his residence. Hudson said the bird’s death was “suspicious” and pointed out that it did not die of natural causes after “an unusual wound and injuries”.
The zoo is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the eagle’s death.
Dallas police are investigating all four incidents. A spokeswoman said last week that the department is cooperating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the investigation.
