By Hanah Tabios
A wildlife sanctuary in Rodriguez, Rizal appealed to the public to help them recover the endangered animals allegedly stolen by unidentified thieves.
(AVILON ZOO/ MANILA BULLETIN)
In a Facebook post early morning Tuesday, the management of Avilon Zoo announced that the following animals were allegedly stolen: three mature red-footed tortoises, one mature yellow-footed tortoise, one mature common snapping turtle, three heads mature black palm cockatoos, and one head juvenile brown-tufted capuchin monkey.
According to Oliver Alvarez, the zoo’s curator for the avian department, the incident was reported after his staff noticed that the black palm cockatoos were missing in the zoo’s quarantine area Monday morning.
Stephanie Joven, the zoo coordinator, said on Tuesday that the remaining animals in the exhibit area were stolen mid-July which prompted the management to report the incident to the police and post the announcement in social media.
Joven also said that both the quarantine and exhibit areas have no installed CCTV cameras.
“Ang quarantine area hindi talaga mabubuksan kung walang susi,” she said. (The quarantine area can only be unlocked using keys.)
She added that their priority is to bring back the endangered animals because they are part of the zoo’s WildCare Conservation Breeding Program.