LONDON — Five endangered monkeys were stolen from an East Sussex zoo over the weekend, the latest in a recent string of small-monkey thefts across England, police confirmed Monday.
A family of Silvery Marmosets — a male, female and 2-month-old baby — and a pair of Geoffrey Marmosets were pocketed late Saturday night after thieves smashed into their cages at Drusillas Park Zoo, snatching them out of their nesting boxes. The burglars tried but failed to break into a third small-monkey enclosure, zoo officials said.
Zoos in Devon and Suffolk have also had small monkeys pilfered in recent weeks.
"This is not a casual crime," said John Haywood, coordinator of the National Theft Register for Exotic Animals. "This is extremely well-organized, and is no doubt part of a series — these are specialist crimes."
"Well-organized", beg pardon, EXTREMELY well-organized crooks who couldn't figure out how to open more than a couple of cages per caper? Yeah this smacks of the Dalton Gang, for sure. Anyone with half a brain knows why such diminutive simians are in demand the world-over, but we'll leave it to the Brits to pass a law making monkey thievery a hate crime, and not intrude upon their cluelessness.
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