Police investigate theft of monkeys from Oban zoo

LONDON (AFP) - Police were investigating the suspected theft of a collection of 15 rare monkeys from a zoo in west Scotland.

The primates -- of three undisclosed breeds, one of which is particularly rare in Britain -- were stolen from Oban Zoological Park sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

The monkeys are believed to be worth a total of about 10,000 pounds.

The different breeds of monkeys were in separate enclosures within the park.

"There are other breeds in the zoo, but they have not been touched," said police spokeswoman Emma Trantor.

"We really can't say much just now, other than we think more than one person must have been involved to get them all together," she said. "They are small breeds, so we can't rule out a car being used, but a vehicle of some sort was certainly used."

"The owners are very upset," she added. "They've built up quite a large primate collection over a number of years."

Oban Zoological World, which has been open to the public since May 2001, has been involved with breeding rare breeds for many years and specialises in breeding endangered species from threatened environments.

Its collection of primates includes cotton-top tamarins, red handed tamarins, red bellied tamarins, black eared marmosets, guides monkeys, Geoffreys monkeys, squirrel monkeys, pygmy marmosets and common marmosets.

The park also features other animals, including reptiles, otters and tortoises.