24-Year-Old Arrested In Connection With Dallas Zoo Monkey Theft

Topline

Dallas Police on Thursday arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly stealing two emperor tamarin monkeys from the Dallas Zoo, the police announced on Friday, following an unusual disappearance of the monkeys and a search that took the internet by storm.

Key Facts

Police said they arrested Davion Irvin after a tip led them to the Dallas World Aquarium, where they said he had been seen near an animal exhibit.

In a report on Friday, police said they followed Irvin after they spotted him boarding a public train, and arrested him in another neighborhood, before taking him to Dallas County Jail.

Irwin was charged with six counts of cruelty to a non-livestock animal, while additional charges are possible, according to police.

Key Background

Local police launched an investigation into what they suspected was a theft of the zoo’s two tamarin monkeys, after they went missing Monday morning. According to Dallas police, the monkeys’ enclosure was “intentionally compromised.” The monkeys were returned to the zoo after they were found alive on Tuesday in a closet in a Dallas suburb. Police released a photo of a man they believe was responsible for taking the monkeys, asking for information from anyone who might know him.

Tangent

The capture of the monkeys was the second time in less than a month that its animals had gone missing, after a clouded leopard escaped from its enclosure on January 13, prompting a brief search for the predator that forced the zoo to shut down and ended in officials finding the leopard safe near its enclosure. One week later, however, officials said an endangered vulture that had been at the zoo for 33 years died from what they said did “not appear to be from natural causes.”

Further Reading

Dallas Zoo Captures Escaped Leopard After All-Day Search Caused Shut Down (Forbes)

Missing Dallas Zoo Monkeys Found In Home After Alleged Theft (Forbes)

2 Monkeys Disappeared From Dallas Zoo—And Police Think They Were Stolen (Forbes)