Police find missing monkeys at Dallas Zoo

DALLAS. Two emperor tamarins believed to have been taken from the Dallas Zoo have been found, zoo officials said.

Police said the monkeys were found around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday in the closet of an abandoned house in Lancaster on a tip-off. Police sources told WFAA that birds and cats were also found inside.

No arrests have been made as the investigation continues.

The Dallas Zoo said its crews responded and brought the monkeys back to the zoo. The monkeys will be evaluated by zoo veterinarians.

On Monday morning, Dallas Zoo crews discovered that two monkeys had gone missing from their habitat and that their habitat had been “intentionally compromised.”

According to the zoo, crews searched the monkeys’ habitat and grounds but did not find any. According to the zoo, the Dallas police were called in to help, who believed during the initial investigation that the monkeys had been abducted.

Dallas police said officers said the monkey enclosure had been broken into.

On Tuesday, the police department released an image of a man that detectives wanted to talk to about the disappearance of the monkeys.

The disappearance of emperor tamarins was the fourth suspicious event at the zoo in just a month.

On January 21, the endangered vulture was found dead with a “suspicious” wound that is under investigation.

The police department is also investigating a fence that appears to have been deliberately cut in areas where clouded leopards and langur monkeys live. One of the clouded leopards escaped on Friday, January 13, and was eventually found on the zoo grounds.