Missing Monkeys Found in Abandoned Home

UPDATE Jan 31, 2023 7:34 PM CST

Two monkeys taken from the Dallas Zoo were found Tuesday in a nearby abandoned home after a mysterious disappearance the day before, police said. No arrests have been made. Dallas police said that they found the two emperor tamarin monkeys after getting a tip, the AP reports. Police said they then went to the empty home in Lancaster, located just south of Dallas, and found the monkeys safe in a closet. The monkeys have been returned to the zoo. In the latest in a string of odd events at the zoo, the monkeys were found missing and their enclosure was cut on Monday. Police released a photo and video Tuesday of a man they want to talk to about the missing monkeys.

Jan 31, 2023 12:58 AM CST

The strange happenings at the Dallas Zoo are getting even stranger. Two monkeys are now missing from the zoo, believed to have been taken Monday morning, the Dallas Morning News reports. The zoo has recently been reporting a number of mysterious incidents involving enclosures and fences being cut (in one case, a leopard escaped but was found and returned to her enclosure), as well as the recent "heartbreaking" and suspicious death of an endangered vulture. In the most recent incident, keepers discovered two emperor tamarin monkeys missing on Monday, a day the zoo was closed due to inclement weather, and it was immediately "clear the habitat had been intentionally compromised," a zoo spokesperson says.

A necropsy was performed on the vulture, and the zoo's veterinary team announced that a "wound" was found on the bird. They had previously said his death did not appear to have been from natural causes. As for the missing monkeys, they like to stay close to home and are not likely to have strayed from the zoo had they escaped on their own, Fox 4 reports. Police are investigating the incidents, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest or indictment. The zoo has added cameras and security patrols, increased overnight staffing, and decreased the number of animals with access to the outdoors at night. (More Dallas stories.)