Loose Lemur Caught by Springfield Police

This story courtesy of Sydney Moran and Ben Gilbert of OzarksFirst.com-

The Springfield Police Department responded to an unusual call on Tuesday night.

Two Springfield police officers responded to the report of a lemur in the road near Kimbrough and Woodland. After chasing the lemur for a short while, the officers were able to capture the lemur in a towel.

Springfield-Greene County Animal Control came and took the lemur away to keep it safe.

According to the Facebook post, a family was connected to animal control to be reunited with their lost lemur.

However, it is illegal to have a lemur as a pet in Springfield.

“City Ordinance 18-13 does specify that no one can keep a wild animal or exotic animal, and it lists out some examples of those. The lemur would be classified as a non-human primate. It’s also against state statute to have a non-human primate or other wild or exotic animals in the state of Missouri,” said Andee Elmore, Administrator of Public Health and Environment.

The lemur has been connected to a local wildlife rescue agency where they will continue to be well cared for and loved.

“The owner of the lemur opted to turn over the lemur to us, and so we did take possession of the lemur. The lemur will be placed in a zoo or a different type of wildlife sanctuary,” said Elmore.