A string of alleged crimes that has shocked the Dallas Zoo in recent weeks has also left the industry baffled.
“I don’t know of any zoo that’s been exposed to this kind of weirdness,” said Michael Renner, a professor of biology and psychology at Drake University in Iowa and the coordinator of the zoos and conservation program.
“People are pretty dumbfounded,” he said. “They grasp at a pattern that will lead them to an explanation.”
The events began on January 13, when a clouded leopard was reported missing from its habitat. In the days and weeks that followed, a breach was found in the langur monkey’s enclosure, an endangered vulture was found dead, and a pair of emperor monkeys were reportedly stolen.
Tom Schmid, CEO and president of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, said he had never seen anything like it.
“It’s inexplicable,” he said. “I can’t imagine a situation like this in my 20+ years in the field.”
More about the mysterious episodes at the Dallas Zoo
As they grapple with how to make sense of it, the Dallas Zoo is promising “significant changes” to facility security to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
Authorities on Friday linked a 24-year-old zoo visitor to three of the cases, including the alleged theft of two emperor monkeys. Davion Irvin was arrested Thursday and is charged with burglary and animal cruelty.
Bella and Finn, the tamarins, were found unharmed in the closet of an empty house on Tuesday.
Irvin is also charged with burglary in connection with the escape of Nova, the clouded leopard, according to Dallas police. Irvin is “linked” to the langur monkey incident, but has not been charged in that case.
Neither the leopard, Nova, nor the langurs were hurt.
Irvin has also not been charged with the January 21 death of Pin, a 35-year-old vulture who was found with what zoo officials described as an “unusual wound.”
Dallas police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman told reporters Friday that more charges are possible.
Authorities have not determined a motive, but Lowman said investigators believe Irvin was planning another crime before his arrest. An employee of the Dallas World Aquarium alerted authorities to him after police released a photo from a person they wanted to speak to regarding the missing animals. Irvin questioned an associate about “means and ways of capturing animals,” according to a police statement in support of his arrest warrant.
Irvin had not worked or volunteered for Dallas Zoo and had access as a guest, Gregg Hudson, president and CEO of Dallas Zoo, said Friday.
“It’s been an incredible three weeks for all of us here at the zoo,” Hudson told reporters. “It’s unprecedented what happened here.”
Three cuts, three habitats
When things go wrong at zoos, Schmid said, the incidents are usually isolated and likely involve someone trying to take an animal home or access a habitat.
“That’s not very uncommon,” Schmid said. “The fact that they’ve had multiple events makes this all the more troubling.”
Dallas officials have provided few details about the incidents, though a common thread connecting three of them — the leopard, tamarin monkeys and langur monkeys — were lacerations found in the wire mesh habitats in which the animals live. Authorities said they appeared intentional.
Pin lived in an open-air habitat, a zoo spokeswoman said. The cause of death of the endangered vulture has not been determined.
Authorities have not said what kind of tool was used to cut the mesh. Pat Janikowski, a longtime zoo designer and director of PJA Architects, said the mesh typically has seven strands of stainless steel braided into a rope and woven together.
“It’s really strong,” he said. “It’s strong enough that a gorilla can charge it and pull it without breaking it.”
Sean Stoddard, whose company A Thru Z Consulting and Distributing supplies the mesh to the industry and has worked with Dallas Zoo for more than two decades, said the suspect likely used bolt or cable cutters.
Zoo routines
Authorities have not said what time the tool may have been used. In two cases — the leopard and the tamarins — the zoo said staff found the animals missing in the morning.
Joey Mazzola, who worked as a marine biologist at the zoo from 2013 to 2017, said the workers probably discovered the monkeys and leopards had disappeared while counting animals, as they do every morning and night.
Both animals were accounted for the night before, zoo spokeswoman Kari Streiber said. Nova has escaped from the public part of her habitat, where she lives with her sister Luna. Streiber said it’s not clear when she was released.
The tamarins disappeared from a holding area next to their habitat, Streiber said. Mazzola likened such spaces to a backyard: an area likely hidden from visitors and separated from the animals’ public habitat and where they spend the night.
It’s not clear how Irvin would have entered space. Lowman, the police spokeswoman, said authorities know how Irvin might have gotten the tamarins out, but she declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation, as did Streiber.
More cameras, more guards
Hudson said the zoo is putting in place security measures to make sure “things like this don’t happen again.”
It has added cameras — including towers borrowed from the Dallas Police Department — and more nighttime security guards to guard the 106-acre property. Streiber said staff members restricted outdoor access for some animals at night.
“Securing a zoo is a unique challenge that requires specific needs due to its environment,” the zoo said in a statement Wednesday. “There’s often an expansive canopy, vast habitats and behind-the-scenes areas to monitor, and heavy traffic of guests, contractors and staff.”
Zoo officials are discussing more changes with security experts, Streiber said.
It is not clear whether there are metal detectors on the table. Like most U.S. zoos, Dallas doesn’t have them, and Streiber said she doesn’t know if they’re being considered.
More facilities are considering the systems, Schmid said, and Columbus Zoo is installing them to protect against incidents such as mass shootings.
The events in Dallas are likely to prompt officials at the more than 200 accredited zoos in the United States to investigate “what they are doing,” he said.
Schmid wasn’t sure how that might change Columbus Zoo’s approach to safety, but he said there have already been several discussions about animal care and safety.
Renner, of Drake University, hopes Dallas’ new emphasis on safety and security doesn’t detract from the zoo’s mission to create meaningful interactions between animals and visitors.
“There could be a strategic approach that would improve safety without crippling the zoo or ruining the visitor experience,” he said. “I hope they do.”