The list of odd occurrences at the Dallas Zoo keeps going, as police say that they believe that two monkeys have been stolen from the zoo this week.
Zoo officials told law enforcement on Monday morning that two tamarin monkeys were missing from their habitats, which were “intentionally compromised” from a cut on the enclosure, according to ABC News.
Were the monkeys taken on purpose?
The Dallas Zoo tweeted, “Based on the Dallas Police Department’s initial assessment, they have reason to believe the tamarins were taken.”
CBS News reported that the Dallas police have said that they believe someone has stolen the two animals and have not yet named a suspect.
In the zoo’s follow-up Twitter post on the incident, it said, “Emperor tamarin monkeys would likely stay close to home — the Zoo searched near their habitat and across Zoo grounds, and did not locate them.”
Who stole the monkeys from the Dallas Zoo?
Police were able to share a photo taken from the zoo’s surveillance video of a man “walking through the zoo in a navy blue hoodie,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
Dallas Zoo spokesperson Kari Streiber said that, following officers’ search for the animals, they have “reason to believe the tamarins were taken.”
People reported that the Dallas Police Department determined that the cut found on the tamarin monkey enclosure was “an intentional cut.”
Why do these things keep happening at the Dallas Zoo?
The Washington Post reported that the strange event occurred only two weeks after a clouded leopard was found roaming free and one week after a rare vulture died with “an unusual wound and injuries.”
The New York Post reported that Ed Hansen, chief executive of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, said, “It appears that somebody really has an issue with the Dallas Zoo.”
The frequency of the events, as well as the similar nature of the incidents, are drawing eyes on the zoo.
CNN reported that Dallas Zoo President and CEO Gregg Hudson said that “the zoo installed additional security cameras, more than doubled its overnight security personnel, increased its overnight staffing, and began limiting some animals’ ability to go outside overnight.”
The Dallas Zoo tweeted, “this is an active Dallas Police Department investigation. This is all the information we are able to share at this time.”