Dublin Police officials believe what was originally reported as a large monkey on the loose may have been a fox.
“There was a business that had video, pretty good video from their surveillance system and it appears it may just be a fox,” Dublin Police Dispatcher Portia Algie said Friday afternoon.
Police spokesman Lindsay Weisenhauer said police are “working with the zoo to confirm that it is a fox.”
Shortly after 9 a.m., Friday, Dublin residents were warned that a “large monkey” was reportedly spotted near Memorial Drive, west of Muirfield Drive near the Union County line. Weisenhauer said the caller reported a 60-80 pound monkey. She said the caller actually specified it was a bonobo monkey.
Weisenhauer said investigators went to the scene but did not find the monkey or evidence of it. Police officials said they increased patrols in the area.
While investigators found no evidence of the monkey, the report did cause a stir among residents.
“This is not a joke and no one has hacked into our account. A large monkey, a bonobo reportedly, on the loose in Muirfield,” according to a statement issued by the Muirfield Association, Inc.
The association warned residents to keep small children and pets inside because the monkey could be aggressive.
Police contacted the Columbus Zoo as well as a local veterinary clinic and neither was missing any monkeys or bonobos.
Weisenhauer said the zoo was “very confident it was not a bonobo monkey.”
She said that after the first report, there were no additional sightings.
“Things were really, really quiet,” Weisenhauer said. “We thought at that point that if there was a 60-80 lb. monkey running around Muirfield, someone else would have seen it.”
She said that a nearby business realized they had footage of the animal. When investigators saw the tape, they believed they were dealing with a fox.
“I have literally no idea how someone could mistake this for a 60-80 pound monkey,” Weisenhauer said.
She said someone might confuse the animal for a smaller monkey, “if you were going by and saw it quickly.”
Police are considering the sighting a non-issue and say there is no threat to other animals or children. Ohio Department of Agriculture regulations require anyone who owns a monkey to register it with the Ohio Wild Animal Program.
Anyone with information may contact Dublin Police with details at the non-emergency number, (614) 889-1112.