What Is Going On at the Dallas Zoo With Its Stolen Animals?

It’s the most confounding event to rock the Dallas–Fort Worth area in 60 years. Over the past month, a series of break-ins have terrorized the residents of the Dallas Zoo with enclosures cut open, an animal killed, and two monkeys apparently stolen — and now found — as police search for the culprit.

The tumult began January 13, when the zoo reported that a clouded leopard named Nova was missing from its habitat. The endangered cat was in her enclosure as of 1 a.m., but zookeepers knew she was missing after they found a “suspicious” tear in the mesh fencing surrounding her enclosure. The police were called and the zoo remained closed that day as they searched for the 25-pound leopard, which was found safe and returned by sundown.

“It was clear that this opening wasn’t habitat failure, wasn’t exhibit failure, and it wasn’t keeper error,” the zoo’s president said. The cuts to the clouded-leopard area weren’t the only compromised enclosures: On January 14, the Dallas Police Department reported that the langur-monkey habitat was also cut into, though the primates didn’t get out.

The next target wasn’t so lucky. On the other side of the 106-acre zoo, a lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead with what the zoo called a “suspicious” wound. Zoo officials said they could not share information surrounding the endangered bird’s death during the police investigation into the matter, but they noted that the zoo had boosted overnight security and added more cameras between the leopard escape and the vulture’s death.

Then came the strangest break-in of all: On January 30, the zoo announced that someone had “intentionally compromised” the habitat of the emperor tamarin monkeys and apparently stole two of the little bearded guys.

Zoo break-ins are uncommon but not unheard of. In 1986, eight animals were stolen from the Central Park Zoo including a boa constrictor and a yellow-headed parrot that could say, “Let’s go, Mets.” (In 1998, another parrot was grabbed from the Central Park Zoo by a man who said he “wanted to make stew out of that bird.”) And over the weekend, a dozen squirrel monkeys were taken from the 45-acre Zoosiana outside Lafayette, Louisiana, about a seven-hour drive from the Dallas Zoo. “The coincidence is a little concerning,” said Ed Hansen, CEO of the American Association of Zoo Keepers.

“When someone takes an animal from a zoo, they quickly find that, no pun intended, they bit off more than they can chew,” Hansen added. “These are endangered species with a specialized diet — they’re not a regular house cat. Usually, people realize they can’t handle them and turn them loose.”

With the Dallas Zoo closed through Thursday because of icy weather, the police released a photo of a man eating Doritos who may be connected with the disappearance of the monkeys. “In this way, it’s really not different than any other crime,” said Hansen. “Eventually someone makes a mistake and gets caught.”

Thankfully, the emperor tamarin monkeys have been found: Late on January 31, the zoo announced that police found the pair and called zoo officials to transport them home, where veterinarians will evaluate them. There was no update on the culprit as of that time.