SAN FRANCISCO—A lemur reported missing on Wednesday, October 14 was returned to the San Francisco Zoo on Friday, October 16, reported the San Francisco Police Department in a press conference. Cory John McGilloway, 30, is accused of breaking into the animal’s enclosure and stealing it. He was arrested at the same time by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office under booking number 2003806.
The lemur, named Maki, was reported missing from the zoo’s Lipman Family Lemur Forest on October 14. The SFPD announced in a statement at 9:40 a.m. on October 14 that the burglary occurred the night before, finding that the enclosure had been tampered with.
McGilloway was arrested 36 hours later on suspicion of shoplifting and stealing a truck. Photos of the lemur were found on his phone. He is charged with four felonies: burglary, grand theft of animal, looting during state of emergency, and vandalism.
According to ABC7 SF, five-year-old James Trinh found the lemur in his school parking lot in Daly City as his mom came to pick him up. He and other students of the Hope Lutheran Day School, “James, Mavis, Brandon, Adriel, Samuel, and Sofie,” were present at the time.
The lemur is an endangered species native only to the island of Madagascar. They can be legally owned in certain states, including Ohio, Nevada, Florida, and North Carolina. They cannot be transported over state lines and are illegal in the state of California.
