We may finally have some answers.
Over the past few weeks, the Dallas Zoo has been in upheaval, with a string of very strange incidents that authorities, and anyone with common sense, believed to be connected.
On January 13th, a clouded leopard escaped its enclosure, prompting a shutdown of the park until the animal was found.
The following day, an incision was found on the leopard’s cage, as well as the nearby langur monkey’s cage.
Then, on January 21st, an endangered lappet faced vulture was found dead from “an unusual wound and injuries, which pointed to this not being a natural death.”
The Dallas PD was brought in to investigate, security was increased to attempt to prevent further problems, and a $10,000 reward was offered for information on any of the incidents.
But none of that seemed to work, as on January 30th, two emperor tamarin monkeys were “taken,” with their habit intentionally tampered with. The monkeys were found unharmed the next day in an abandoned house 15 miles from the zoo in Lancaster, where the investigation began to focus on Irvin, although no one yet knew his name.
According to the New York Times, Jeremy Ross, whose father is the pastor of a nearby church, was aware of a person squatting in a long abandoned house that’s owed by their church. Police had been called multiple times by neighbors, but no one was able to track down the mystery man who was causing a disturbance.
But last month, Ross and his father noticed the door to the house was ajar and went over to investigate, Jeremy bringing his pistol.
They pushed open the door and were immediately hit with a pungent smell of animals. Several cats darted out and inside they found numerous chickens, dogs, and cats.
Then when Dallas PD posted a photo of a suspect for the crimes at the zoo, they recognized him, as he attended a church service recently. Jeremy said it seemed the man was on drugs.
“I couldn’t even pay attention to the service because he was acting like he was going through a metamorphosis”
Winter, Jeremy’s wife, was the one who actually made the call to the police after seeing the suspect’s photo saying
“I was like, ultimately, if we don’t say anything and those monkeys die in that house, I would never forgive myself.”
Police arrived and the two emperor tamarin monkeys were recovered, malnourished and cold, but otherwise in full health.
A few days later, police received another tip that the suspect was at the Dallas World Aquarium, “looking to commit another crime”.
24 year old Davion Irvin was arrested and charged with 6 counts of non-livestock animal cruelty and burglary in connection with all of the events, except for the incisions in the cages, which they said he was “linked” too, but not charged.
He was being held on $25,000 bond. Officials said he had no known previous connections with the zoo and his motives are still unclear.
If we know anything about the court system, this one is going to take awhile to play out, but for the time being it seems like they’ve got the guy in custody and the animals at Dallas Zoo can rest easy.
What a wild story that can hopefully be tied up and put to rest.
