Break-in at Vancouver zoo leaves one monkey dead, one missing…
RCMP are searching for a suspect after someone broke into an enclosure at the Greater Vancouver Zoo and killed one of the resident monkeys. Zoo spokeswoman Jodi Henderson says someone broke into the spider monkey enclosure early this morning.
She says the male monkey, known as Jocko, was killed and the female monkey, Mia, is missing.
Henderson is not sure if Mia has been stolen or if she escaped during the incident.
Henderson says zoo officials have no idea who is behind the break-in and they are appealing for help in finding the missing monkey which is brown, about 45 centimetres high, with a long tail and steel-blue eyes.
If Mia is spotted, Henderson says she should not be picked up because she’s likely very agitated and has sharp teeth.
The mystery of the missing monkey is no closer to being solved. At the Greater Vancouver Zoo, visitors have been leaving cards and flowers. There is one monkey missing and another dead, after someone cut into their enclosure, and mounties say this defies logic.
Yesterday some saddened young visitors at the zoo were leaving tokens, like a card or flowers, on the fence. It’s the start of a memorial for zoo favourites Jocko and Mia, the spider monkeys.
Staff are devastated, and the animal care manager at the zoo is quoted in this morning’s 24 Hours newspaper as saying Jocko the male probably died trying to protect his territory and mate of 15 years, from misguided thieves. Trauma is the most likely cause of death and a necropsy will be done to figure that out.
Mia would likely have returned quickly if she had left the cage on her own. THe RCMP says there are any number of possibilities. Mia may be going to the black market or she may end up as an exotic pet .