Thieves turn to monkey business

Tamarins and other small monkeys are at risk. Picture / Martin Sykes

Criminal gangs are targeting small zoos and safari parks to meet the demand from private collectors intent on amassing a "Noah's Ark" of exotic animals, particularly rare primates.

The theft of five monkeys this month has rekindled concern. Three silvery marmosets and two geoffroy's spider monkeys were taken from their cages in East Sussex.

Until three years ago, there had been no reported thefts of primates in Britain.

Gangs focused instead on rare birds, reptiles and amphibians.

But the incident at Drusillas Zoo near Eastbourne has brought the number of stolen monkeys to 80. Many are thought to die during the raids, and only a handful are ever recovered.

The theft came as research showed that 40 per cent of European zoos reported being hit by animal thieves.

One gang was interrupted while trying to steal a lion, which was discovered tranquillised with its claws removed.

Other thefts have included an alligator from a West Midlands zoo, flamingos from the south of England and Toga the penguin, seized from Amazon World Zoo Park in the Isle of Wight.

But it is the soaring numbers of stolen primates that is troubling investigators.

Most at risk are the small monkeys that can be kept in aviaries, such as South American tamarins, spider monkeys and types of marmoset.

In one of the worst cases, seven squirrel monkeys, five black-tufted marmosets and three geoffroy's spider monkeys were stolen from Oban Zoological Park in Scotland in August 2004. All are understood to have been taken overseas.

John Hayward, a former detective inspector who now runs the National Theft Register listing stolen animals, believes zoos are up against highly professional gangs. "This is the nearest thing you will get to organised crime. It is international and highly specialised - they are just like the gangs that go after art or antiques," he said.

Often the gangs use the same transit networks as drug smugglers, stealing to order, on behalf of a criminal receiver who will then place the quarry with interested collectors for whom money is no object.

For example, flamingos stolen recently in Britain are believed to have ended up in a private collection in the South of France, where the purchaser was amassing two of every species in an attempt to establish breeding pairs.

Mr Hayward said the price that an animal commanded depended on its rarity in the wild.

"There are private collectors out there just like in the art world. They have serious money and they all want to own the Mona Lisa," he said. "People just aren't satisfied with a budgie or a goldfish."

The number of thefts of parrots and other exotic birds has been in steady decline in recent years, thanks to an increase in micro-chipping and increased zoo security.

But the latest report on the problem from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria said many thefts remained unknown or unreported.

It said the results of a survey of members last year "show that theft is a major problem".

It also found that thefts were as likely to occur during opening times as when the zoo was closed.

Animal groups have long campaigned for tougher sentences.

Last year, the penalty for dealing in the rarest stolen animals was increased to five years in jail. However prosecutions remain few and far between.

- INDEPENDENT