This tiny monkey called Jimmie who was kidnapped from his family has been returned safe and sound after a Facebook campaign.
Jimmie the common marmoset lived with his family at Zoo Zajac, famous for being the world’s largest pet shop covering an incredible 12,000 square metres and containing 1,000 aquariums, 70 pools, 500 terrariums and 150 cages.
According to a spokesman for the pet shop in the German city of Duesberg, the lock on his cage had been broken at around 7PM and the tiny monkey grabbed despite an attempt by his family to protect him. That resulted in the shoplifter being bitten on the hand.
The thief then ran out of the store and after the alarm was raised on social media, a person contacted cops to say they had spotted a man selling a baby monkey at a bus station for 200 EUR some two hours later.
When the person was challenged over whether what they were doing was illegal and why they had the baby monkey in a shoe box, they ran off leaving the monkey behind.
The pet shop has offered a 500-EUR (441-GBP) reward and also posted a thank you online to everybody who helped get Jimmie returned to his family. They also praised the police in turning up quickly to recover the stolen monkey.
The store is owned and run by brothers Norbert and Wolfgang Zajac who have had a lifelong fascination with animals and started collecting them when they were young, financing their hobby from the sale of other animals.
The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) typically weighs around 9 ounces and is around 7 inches in length with a disproportionately large tale.
They live in close-knit family units with a strong social structure in which only some members of the family allowed to breed, and the dominant male does not breed with females that he is related to. They also have a complicated way of communicating which includes gestures and noises including whistles.
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Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
