By Angelina Tang
A trend of strange events at zoos since the start of the year has drawn a media spotlight onto them across the country. From escaping animals to suspicious deaths to a man who evidently wants to keep a monkey as a pet, here is a holistic overview of incidents since the start of 2023.
The tale begins at the Dallas Zoo. On the morning of January 13th, a clouded leopard was discovered to be missing from her enclosure, which had been cut open. The Dallas police department announced the beginning of a criminal investigation to detain the person who freed her, but before a single lead could emerge, she was found in the late afternoon on zoo grounds and safely captured and secured. That would’ve been the end of the story, only the very next day, a similar tear to the one in her enclosure was found in the Langur monkey habitat. No Langurs escaped or were harmed.
A week later, on January 21st, an endangered lappet-faced vulture was found dead in his habitat. Although no tears in his enclosure were found, it was discovered in the necropsy that he had been wounded, and that his death was not from natural causes.
A week later, on January 30th, the vandal struck again, this time breaking into the enclosure of two tamarin monkeys and stealing them. The metal mesh of the door was broken and bent, and the animals were nowhere to be found, neither in their habitat nor on zoo grounds. Fortunately, they were located only one day later in the closet of a house in Lancaster, thanks to a civilian tip. Security footage was released of the suspect at the zoo, along with a photo of the man in question.
On February 2nd, the suspect was finally caught. 24-year-old Davion Irvin was spotted at the Dallas World Aquarium and arrested soon after on accounts of six charges of animal cruelty and one charge of burglary. He was the man behind all of the cut enclosures and stolen monkeys, although a link between him and the vulture death has not yet been made. Investigations are still ongoing. Prior to the tamarin monkeys being stolen, he reportedly asked zookeepers questions about how to care for the monkeys. Apparently, Irvin also plans on stealing more animals if he is released, which seems like something you probably shouldn’t tell the police, but okay.
However, what makes this so interesting is that the very same day Irvin was arrested, an oddly similar incident occurred at a zoo halfway across the country. At the Central Park Zoo in New York City, the enclosure of an Eurasian eagle owl was cut, releasing the bird into the city. Officials were unable to recapture him, but so far, he’s been able to catch rats and adjust to life in the “wild” much faster than anticipated, so he has since been allowed to stay–under surveillance–a free owl.
In the meantime, the Dallas Zoo monkeys have been placed back in their fixed enclosure after a two-week quarantine, and all of the other animals are safe and healthy. Zoo security has also increased, and some animals are now restricted from wandering in their outside enclosures at night. The zoo has also seen a spike in attendance since their fiasco. In addition, the owl flying freely through NYC has gained a large number of fans who, alongside zoo officials, are keeping a close eye on him, so you need not worry about his safety.
Of course, the question remains of whether or not these break-ins are related. No more criminal events have occurred since the owl escape, but if any more occur, this forming pattern of zoo animals being released may begin to raise suspicion. Keep an eye out for any mention of zoos in the news in the coming months.
