"Nearly a week after the first reports of monkeys on the loose in St. Louis, and a fruitless search, officials there are shifting focus to find the animals' owner. Owning a monkey is against the law in St. Louis, said Justen Hauser, head of the city health department's environmental health bureau. "We have transitioned from responding to the reports of monkeys at large to a more enforcement of city ordinance," Hauser told The Washington Post on Tuesday."
"Hauser said investigators provided photos that had been posted by residents online to primate experts at the St. Louis Zoo, who identified the animal as a vervet monkey. Native to eastern and southern Africa, vervet monkeys weigh between 9 and 12 pounds, according to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. St. Louis animal control asked the community to report sightings. Doctored images posted online show vervet monkeys dressed in St. Louis Cardinals baseball jerseys or posing for a selfie with their faces painted blue and yellow for the St. Louis Blues hockey team."
City investigators received initial reports last Thursday of at least one monkey near O'Fallon Park in north St. Louis. Animal-control personnel obtained photos from residents that primate experts at the St. Louis Zoo identified as a vervet monkey. Owning a monkey is illegal in St. Louis, prompting a shift from search response to enforcement aimed at locating the owner. Initial reports suggested up to four monkeys, though that number remains unverified. The community reported sightings and shared doctored images while local authorities asked residents to continue reporting any further sightings.
Read at The Washington Post
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