Police locate stolen lemur, but not tortoise or gibbon
Police said Sunday they found a stolen lemur in Quebec as they continued to investigate a heist at a central Ontario zoo.
However, there was still no word on what happened to a tortoise and a baby Gibbon monkey snatched from the Elmvale Jungle Zoo, about 20 kilometres north of Barrie.
OPP reported Sunday that police had overnight recovered the lemur, named JC, by working with Sûreté du Quebec and Montreal police.
OPP Sgt. Peter Leon said the Quebec provincial police found the lemur in a cage at the side of a road around 3:30 a.m. The lemur was transported to a nearby zoo and staff from the Elmvale Jungle Zoo were on their way to pick up the animal, Leon added.
Police were still trying to find Stanley the tortoise and Agnes the baby Gibbon monkey.
Huronia West OPP responded to a break and enter at the zoo at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday. On the zoo’s Facebook page, staff made a tearful plea for witnesses to call police and help find their “babies.” The zoo offered a $5,000 reward for information that would bring the animals home and said an “anonymous animal lover” had offered an additional $5,000.
Police estimated the value of the animals at $20,000.
“It’s been absolutely devastating,” Marina Huygen, the office assistant at the zoo, said by phone.
It appeared the thief cut through a fence in the flamingo area before grabbing the lemur, tortoise and monkey, Huygen said.
Police hopped into action. Two other OPP units, including street crime cops with Lanark County OPP and the Ottawa police, joined the investigation. They identified a suspect from Ottawa.
On Friday, police said they found 21-year-old Alex Perlmutter in Mount Albert, Ont., east of Newmarket. He has been charged with break and enter, theft over $5,000 and breach of probation.
Police have also charged Adrian Frei, 20, of Mount Albert with break and enter and theft over $5,000.
The two men are scheduled to appear in a Barrie court on Monday, Leon said.
The charged Ottawa man wasn’t a former employee or affiliated with the zoo, Huygen said.
Huygen said zoo staff were heartsick, comparing the theft of the animals to the loss of a child or family pet.
Leon said police were doing everything they can to find the missing tortoise and monkey. He said there had been an “incredible collaborative effort” between police agencies.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477 (TIPS).