A man has been arrested in France for stealing endangered monkeys

In the southern French city of Marseille, a man was brought before a judge on suspicion of stealing 14 endangered monkeys from a zoo, judicial sources said, AFP reported.
On the night of January 26-27, unknown persons broke into the tropical zoo in La Londe-les-Mores, about 70 km east of Marseille, and stole 14 monkeys of the genus Saimiri.
Also known as squirrel monkeys, the animals native to Central and South America are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Each of them can reach a price of several thousand euros on the black market.
One person was arrested in Marseille, where three of the monkeys were also found, said Samuel Finielz, senior prosecutor in the Mediterranean city of Toulon.
Police said they found one of the monkeys in the basement of the apartment building in the south of Marseille where the suspect lives.
Two others were left outside the home of a citizen who called the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA).
All monkeys are born at the zoo and fitted with identification chips.
Finielz said the 20-year-old suspect, "whose vehicle was seen near the crime scene," denies involvement.
He was detained for 48 hours and sent before an investigating judge.
Prosecutors sought charges of theft and possession and transportation of protected species as part of an organized crime group.
The maximum sentence is seven years in prison.
"It appears that there were several people on board the vehicle and this theft required pre-planning," Finielz said.
Prosecutors have asked for the suspect to be held in custody to prevent him from destroying evidence and contacting potential accomplices, he added.
Anyone with knowledge of the remaining 11 monkeys should contact police as "their life expectancy without proper care is very limited". /BGNES