Man ‘intentionally’ cut Dallas Zoo leopard and monkey enclosures, dead vulture remains mystery: police

Charges continue to pile up against a man who is accused of “intentionally” cutting several animal enclosures at the Dallas Zoo that let a leopard loose and freed monkeys that were found days later in an abandoned home.

Davion Irvin, 24, was arrested near animal exhibits at the Dallas World Aquarium on Thursday and charged with six counts of animal cruelty in connection with two missing emperor tamarin monkeys. 

Two counts of burglary to a building were added Friday evening after police connected Irvin to a sabotaged leopard enclosure that created a chaotic search in and around the zoo, and to an “intentionally” cut langur monkey habitat. 

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Nova, the spotted leopard, was safely returned to her habitat the same day, and none of the langur monkeys escaped or were taken, according to police. 

More charges are possible, Dallas police said. 

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As of Saturday morning, Irvin wasn’t connected to the suspicious death of an endangered vulture, according to police. 

Last Friday, the vulture was found dead in its habitat, and authorities found an “unusual wound,” police said.  

The case against Irvin and the rescue of two missing emperor tamarin monkeys came together quickly after police released a photo of the suspect Wednesday morning. 

The public called police with a host of tips that led investigators to an empty home in the city of Lancaster, just outside of Dallas, where they recovered the missing monkeys by Wednesday night. 

More tips came in about Irvin’s whereabouts that allowed police to track him to the Dallas World Aquarium, where he was arrested Thursday. 

“The preliminary investigation and help from the public identified Irvin as the man Dallas Police were looking to speak with regarding the missing monkeys at the Dallas Zoo,” police said in a Thursday statement.

All of the animals, including the emperor tamarin monkeys, are in good health, according to police. 

Investigations into the peculiar incidents at the zoo are ongoing.