Someone broke into the Elmvale Jungle Zoo and stole a lemur, monkey and tortoise.
A spokesperson for the zoo tells CTV News that the thief or thieves cut through a fence in the parking lot sometime between 9 p.m. on Monday and 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
They then moved through a flamingo pond and into a barn where several animals are kept. The spokesperson says a baby Gibbon monkey named Agnes, a lemur named JC and Stanley the tortoise were then stolen.
The estimated value of the animals is more than $20,000.
“These animals aren’t animals, they’re our family,” an emotional Michel Persi said in a Facebook post.
Zoo officials are still combing through hours of surveillance video, but the park is open. It’s still not clear how many people were involved in the theft.
A second large hole was later found by police in the fence.
"Hopefully we'll get something, somewhere to bring these babies back home. These aren't animals to us, they're our family and we just want them home safe," says Persi.
Officials also say beer bottles were found scattered around the zoo. Those bottles have since been cleaned up by police.
The OPP is hoping someone may have seen something overnight in the zoo’s parking lot.
"It could be someone that's involved in the illegal black market exotic animal’s trade or it could be some individuals trying to re-enact their favourite Hollywood movie. We don't know the motive at this point," says OPP Const. Chris Lesage
Anyone with information is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
