The police arrested a 24-year-old man in Dallas and slapped charges of suspected stealing of a pair of emperor tamarin monkeys, which were recovered unharmed in an abandoned home this week, a day after they disappeared from the Dallas Zoo.
The police arrested Davion Irvin late Thursday night and charged him with six counts of animal cruelty-non-livestock, stated the Dallas Police in a news release.
Irvin has been kept at the Dallas County Jail. “The preliminary investigation and help from the public identified Irvin as the man Dallas Police were looking to speak with regarding the missing monkeys at the Dallas Zoo,” the police stated.
The disappearance of monkeys was followed by several suspicious incidents that took place at the zoo in recent weeks which involved vultures, langur monkeys and leopards. Because of the incidents, the zoo’s security was hiked, which included overnight staff, technology, more cameras, security patrols and fencing. Meanwhile, 12 squirrel monkeys’ weekend theft was reported by a Louisiana zoo.
A reward of $25,000 was offered in the case of missing monkeys of Dallas zoo as officials released surveillance footage that “seems to have been critical in generating a tip that led to the recovery of the tamarins” in a home located in Lancaster, Texas.
A photo of an unidentified person was also released by the police as they said that the man is being searched and will be interrogated. The video shows a man slowly walking down a zoo sidewalk and constantly looking back while moving forward.
On Monday, the monkeys went missing from a habitat that had been “intentionally compromised,” the zoo stated, adding that there were reasons for Dallas Police to believe they were “intentionally taken from the enclosure”. It was earlier announced that the zoo will remain closed on Monday due to inclement weather and the closure was further extended because of the ice storm.
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“How the animals left the zoo and got into the Lancaster house is still a mystery. Upon their return, the monkeys were put into quarantine,” the zoo stated.
“Emperor tamarin monkeys, Bella and Finn, were so happy to snuggle into their nest sack here at the Zoo last night! Our veterinary and animal care teams have said, beyond losing a bit of weight, they show no signs of injury and both started eating and drinking almost immediately once the team completed health exams on Tuesday night,” the zoo wrote on Facebook.
(With inputs from agencies)
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