9 endangered animals taken from zoo in Rizal province

Nine endangered animals have disappeared from the country’s biggest zoo whose management took to Facebook on Tuesday to ask for help in finding them.

Taken from Avilon Zoo, located in Rodriguez, Rizal, were three mature red-footed tortoises, a mature yellow-footed tortoise, a mature common snapping turtle, three mature black palm cockatoos and a juvenile brown tufted capuchin monkey.

The zoo management said the animals were part of the zoo’s WildCare Conservation Breeding Program. They were also listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a multilateral treaty meant to protect animals and plants.

Zoo coordinator Stephanie Joven said the tortoises, turtle and monkey were first reported missing in mid-July.

“They were taken from their exhibits which have walls that they could not climb or escape from on their own,” she told the Inquirer. “Someone must have crawled in there and took them.”

On Monday, caretakers reported three missing cockatoos—rare birds placed in a quarantine room which was accessible only through a padlocked door.

No suspects yet

“With the exhibited animals, anyone could have taken them, including some visitors,” Joven said, adding: “But with the cockatoos, we cannot easily pinpoint who could have done it.”

The zoo occupies 7.5 hectares and houses around 3,000 animals from at least 500 species.

Joven said whoever took the animals probably planned to sell them on the black market. A cockatoo with complete papers can be sold for a minimum of P150,000.

However, under the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, mere possession of an endangered animal is punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine of up to P300,000.

On speculations that rogue zoo staffers were behind the theft, Joven said that their investigation was still ongoing.

While no reward has been offered for the animals, she added that the zoo was hoping for their safe return.