A man who lives near the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, from which 11 animals were recently stolen, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the theft, and the investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, several of the animals have been recovered and returned to the zoo. They appear to be in good condition.
Sedrick Tyrezi Price, 20, is charged with grand theft, according to a SFC Police Department arrest report. The value of the animals was between $10,000 and $20,000.
SFC spokesman Jay Anderson said in a news release that Price lives at the Crossings of Santa Fe apartment complex. The animals that have been recovered were found there.
Anderson told The Sun that Price is not currently a student and didn’t know if Price had been a student.
Price is accused in the report of taking a squirrel monkey, Solomon Island skink and nine turtles.
SFPD received a tip 12:30 p.m. Monday suggesting that the animals were in the vicinity of an apartment complex near the school’s northwest campus, off Northwest 39th Avenue.
Law enforcement found seven of the 11 missing animals, including Mani, the 11-year-old squirrel monkey.
Mani jumped around her enclosed habitat Tuesday and chirped with two squirrel monkey family members. Jonathan Miot, director of the zoo, said that was a good sign.
The two squirrel monkeys weren’t treating Mani as an outsider, showing that they remember her despite her almost weeklong absence, Miot said.
Eleven animals were missing as of May 30. Two gopher tortoises and two box turtles were found missing May 24, and three more box turtles, two red-foot tortoises, a skink and Mani were found missing May 30.
Zoo officials inventory their animals daily, they said, but did close the zoo May 30 after the second batch of missing animals was discovered, to make extra checks on the remaining animals.
On Monday, law enforcement found three of the m box turtles, both red-foot tortoises, Howard the skink and Mani.
The two gopher tortoises and two remaining box turtles have not been found. The tortoises were on medication to prevent a deadly virus, and Anderson said their situation and the turtles’ situation become more dire the longer they’re missing.
SF Police Capt. Ryan Woods said Tuesday that the investigation is still ongoing. The department is working with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Officials had said earlier that they think the missing animals might have been stolen by someone who intended to sell them as pets.
Miot said the seven found animals underwent an initial examination to ensure they’re healthy. The zoo is working with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine to do so.
“So far, they look good,” Miot said Tuesday.
Thefts from accredited zoos are rare, Miot said, and the teaching zoo at Santa Fe has never had animals stolen before.
Miot said he and other zoo staff members were excited to have seven of the animals back, although they’re still concerned about the two missing gopher tortoises and two box turtles.