Rebecca Dube
From Friday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Friday, Mar. 13, 2009 11:50AM EDT
Who steals a baby monkey?
That's what zookeepers Len and Lynda Collrin would like to know. April, a 10-month-old callimico monkey small enough to fit in one hand, was snatched from her enclosure at the Cherry Brook Zoo in Saint John on Tuesday night. The thief apparently jumped a fence, kicked in the door and targeted April, leaving several other monkeys behind.
"There was thunder and lightning and pouring rain" the night after, Ms. Collrin fretted yesterday. "I just hope it's somewhere safe."
April's family appears equally distraught. Since her disappearance, Ms. Collrin said yesterday, April's parents and older brother have alternated between searching their enclosure, calling for April and huddling together in their outdoor nest box. "It's heartbreaking to see," she said.
SIMIAN BLACK MARKET
Monkey-napping is rare in Canada, but not unheard of elsewhere. This month, two marmoset monkeys were stolen from a home near Orlando. Both were recovered after a man came forward and told police he'd bought a monkey for $250 from a man selling them off the back of a truck. (So much for humans being the primates with higher intelligence.)
Bill Peters, national director of the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, agrees with Ms. Collrin's hunch that April was stolen by someone wanting a cute pet, since a black-market dealer probably would have taken more than one.
HIGH-MAINTENANCE PETS
However cute they are, monkeys do not make good pets. Ms. Collrin notes that April is very fast and has razor-sharp teeth. Also, the little monkey's health is fragile; her special diet includes high-protein bars, mealworms and a certain type of fungi.
Ms. Collrin said there are only about 1,000 callimicos, which are indigenous to the upper Amazon rainforest. If April isn't returned before her mother bears her next baby, Ms. Collrin said, she may not learn the parenting behaviours she'll need to breed successfully in the future.
"I hope they realize their mistake and return it," Ms. Collrin said. "This little female is very important to their species."
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