Families flocked to the Elmvale Jungle Zoo for its opening weekend to get a glimpse of a furry familiar face.

Agnes, a two-year-old Gibbon monkey, was stolen along with a lemur and tortoise from the zoo a year ago. Agnes was found in Quebec five months after the break-in. The lemur was also returned to the zoo but Stanley the tortoise has not been recovered.

On Sunday, the little monkey feasted on bananas as the crowds welcomed her home.

"She’s like a child to me, you’re going to make me cry again,” says Michel Persi with the Elmvale Jungle Zoo. “When she came home her hair was very thin, and there was missing spots, bald spots, but she's back on track [and] she loves her cuddles."

The kids visiting the zoo are just as happy as zoo employees to see Agnes back home.

"I like them ‘cause they're my favourite animal," said a visiting child, "and I also want to keep one of them."

Opening weekend at the zoo is also the first opportunity to for families to meet Malika, a four-week old lion, born at the zoo.

The Elmvale Jungle Zoo is now open for the summer.