Prickly Kitty

Whoever is doing this is doing it from the inside. There's been a significant increase in security, police, and cameras around the zoo; it's just nonsensical that ppl with no position inside the zoo would be able to do this.

Frankly, I think this is an attempt first and foremost to ruin Dallas Zoo's reputation. Tbh I feel especially vindicated with that bc the first response of many following Nova's escape was to joke about how stupid a zoo had to be to lose a clouded leopard. But it never got too far beyond that, because Nova was found up a tree nearby, and was retrieved and returned non-violently. Had the Langurs escaped, it could have been trickier than retrieving Nova, but none of them had left through the hole by the time it was discovered. A dead Vulture is a bad look, but I don't think that was the goal. As I mentioned, it was initially found still alive, which I'll get back to in a second.

The newest update is theft. IYDK, it's frozen here. It was frozen Sunday night and all day yesterday, and it's super frozen today. Tamarins don't go far from home even if they were to get out. There is no reason they shouldn't have been found if they were simply escaped. Someone took them to make sure they couldn't be found.

The clouded leopard story didn't end with hatred of the zoo because they were able to return Nova peacefully. The langurs never got to be a story about losing animals. But if the Dallas Zoo hadn't alerted everyone to the theft, imagine how the story of these tamarins could be spun. These ones got out in freezing temperatures, and the zoo was too incompetent to find them.

Which brings me back to the vulture. I think whatever they've done with the tamarins now, they initially tried on the vulture. I think the Vulture was a botched theft that left the bird in a horrific state. I think this because the next criminal action after this animal death wasn't more animal death, but animal theft. Animal death also doesn't track with the initial 2 incidents, which seemed to bank on the animals getting loose and freaking people out. Stolen animals, if not recognized and reported as stolen, would be functionally indistinguishable from a lost animal. If the 2 attempts to cut holes and run didn't go the way the perpetrators wanted, why not steal the animals go be sure. And again, the vulture wasn't found dead, even if it wound up dead.

All this to say, people are targeting the Dallas Zoo, that much is clear. Like I know a lot of people saw the jokes about losing a leopard, but it's actually scary what is happening, and I don't know how it feels to be a keeper rn, trying to do your job but knowing someone or multiple someones you work with are actively putting animals at risk.

EDIT: Adding sources

From the Dallas Zoo's Facebook

Tamarin Announcement

Pin the Vulture Announcement, 2

Nova Announcement, update 1 , 2 , 3

No post was made about the langurs from Dallas Zoo's social media, as none had escaped.

Langur exhibit– Dallas Morning News, ABC News

ABC has also released an article summing everything up thus far.