Strange things have been happening recently at the Dallas Zoo.
First, a clouded leopard went missing from its habitat, which had been tampered with. Next, a 35-year-old vulture was found dead. Then, two emperor tamarin monkeys went missing, though they were later found in an abandoned home and a man was arrested in connection with the crime.
Environmental writer Emma Marris, author of the book “Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World” joined “Something Offbeat” as the mystery unfolded to talk about zoos – and if they are the right place for animals to live.
“Primates are particularly good at getting out because they’re clever,” she explained. “There’s a famous case of an orangutan at the Omaha Zoo which picked the lock to its enclosure. And the detail that I was stuck with... is that it kept a little wire for lock pecking hidden in its mouth so that the keeper wouldn't see that it had this tool.”
Listen to find out how Marris’ research changed her perspective on zoos, and what it might reveal about the perplexing incidents surrounding the Dallas Zoo.
Each week, “Something Offbeat” dives into stranger-than-fiction headlines. If you have suggestions for stories the podcast should cover, send them to us at somethingoffbeat@audacy.com.
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