A preschooler who spotted a missing endangered lemur gets a lifetime pass to the San Francisco Zoo
Five-year-old James Trinh spotted and pointed out a lemur when leaving school last Thursday.
Maki, the 21-year-old lemur, had been missing from the San Francisco Zoo since the previous day and has been safely returned home.
The San Francisco Zoo rewarded Trinh with a lifetime membership.
"There's a lemur!" preschooler James Trinh shouted on Friday when he was leaving his school in Daly City, Cynthia Huang, director of the Hope Lutheran Day School, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Maki, the elderly lemur, ran from the school's parking lot to the playground. The school called the police, who contacted animal control and zoo officials.
Maki was transported from the school back to the San Francisco Zoo, and Trinh received a lifetime membership to the zoo for assisting in the lemur's safe return.
—Kate Larsen (@KateABC7) October 16, 2020
At 21-years-old, Maki has ailments like arthritis and requires special care, San Francisco Zoo director Tanya Peterson told the Associated Press.
Peterson added that the lemur is "socially-distancing from his primate family" because of his travels, and that veterinarian teams are bringing a dehydrated, agitated, and hungry Maki back to health.
Police took Cory McGilloway, a 30-year-old suspected of stealing the lemur, into custody on Thursday, Scott Ryan, a San Francisco police lieutenant told the AP on Friday.
Maki had been missing since early Wednesday morning, and police found evidence of a forced entry into his cage.
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