Price Hill residents caught a glimpse of a truly wild sight on Wednesday evening, as five monkeys were reportedly seen at St. Joseph's Cemetery.
Cincinnati Police responded to the situation around 10 p.m. April 7, according to FOX 19. Police said they believe the monkeys may have escaped from a private home collection. As of 6:30 a.m. on April 7, FOX 19 reporter Lauren Artino tweeted that officers were actively searching for the monkeys.
A local resident named Alycha Tucker told WLWT, "My mom thought I was crazy. I said, 'look there's monkeys out here,' zoom my camera like this. Then I heard it making the noises, not 'ooh ooh aah aah' stuff, but grunts, so I didn't know what it was.
"I just stood there as my eyes adjust to pitch blackness and that is when I saw it, just standing there, taller than garbage can, and its arms were real long hanging down and its arms are real skinny."
So far, CPD has not reported finding any monkeys. Cemetery manager Bruce VanHook told The Enquirer that the "monkeys" could actually be wild turkeys that frequent the cemetery.
The law on owning wild animals in Ohio depends on the type of animal, but is restricted for almost 30 "non-human primates," agri.ohio.gov explains on its website, specifically prohibiting dangerous animals. The site does list four pet monkeys that are legal to own, including marmosets, capucins, lemurs and squirrel monkeys.
Senate Bill 310 was signed into law on June 5, 2012, regulating the possession of wild dangerous animals and restricted snakes. No confirmations have been made concerning the monkeys that have escaped.
Michelle Curley, director of communications at the Cincinnati Zoo, told CityBeat the zoo is evaluating the circumstances in order to see if they're able to assist the police department in any way.
We reached out to Lt. Steve Saunders of the CPD for comment and will update once we hear back.
