Animals Are Vanishing From The Dallas Zoo, Habitats Mysteriously Breached

Two emperor tamarin monkeys were reportedly taken from the Dallas Zoo on Monday, the latest among several unexplained episodes that have seen animals vanishing from the venue, The New York Times reports. Authorities suspect “foul play” after discovering the animals’ habitat “intentionally compromised.”

Police said that “an intentional cut was found in the monkey enclosure and that the animals appeared to have been taken intentionally,” the report states.

This is the latest in a series of bizarre incidents.

“On Jan. 13, a female clouded leopard disappeared for several hours, prompting a ‘Code Blue’ alert at the zoo, which indicates that a nondangerous animal is out of its habitat,” New York Times reporter April Rubinsaid writes. “She was later found uninjured, but a ‘suspicious’ tear was found in the enclosure, the authorities said. The opening was not an error or failure on the part of the habitat, exhibit or keeper, Gregg Hudson, the zoo’s president and chief executive, said earlier this month. The next day, similar cuts were found in the fencing of a habitat for langur monkeys, but all the monkeys were inside and appeared unharmed.”

Later, on January 22, a lappet-faced vulture was found dead with a “suspicious” wound.

The Dallas Zoo was closed on Monday because of inclement weather and would remain closed through Wednesday, it said on Twitter.