WANTED
Meerkats escape – Hunt for mystery man who ‘broke into Southend zoo and sparked mass breakout’
A HUNT is on to catch a mystery man who allegedly let almost a dozen meerkats loose from a zoo in Southend.
CCTV footage shows a man shaking the gates of their enclosure in Sea Life Adventure Centre before the critters were spotted running down the seafront.
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Shocked tourists could barely believe their eyes as the pint-sized pals fled through the popular seaside resort in Essex on Friday evening.
They were later seen roaming around a miniature golf course on the seafront.
Cops did their best to herd the animals together but they were too agile and sprinted away from the officers.
Eventually a member of the public called the RSPCA and it is believed they were all rounded up and taken back to the zoo.
But the zoo has since released footage of an alleged intruder appearing to tamper with the enclosure when the zoo was closed.
He was even seen climbing onto the roof of another enclosure and a manhunt has now been launched after a reward was offered.
MANHUNT REWARD
Sea Life is offering a reward of £1,000 to whoever can find the suspected culprit and turn him in.
They wrote on Facebook: "We need your help to catch this mindless criminal who put our animals in danger, by breaking into Sealife Adventure #, destroyed their home, lovingly built to be best
environment for our meerkats.
"£1000 plus, chance to meet meerkats, info identify, arrest & charge."
Lucy Hodge, Sealife's director said: "We would urge anyone with any information about this crime to come forward.
"And to this end are offering a reward of £1,000 along with a Sealife Adventure and Adventure Island Annual pass as well a chance to meet our meerkats."
TERRIFIED MEERKATS
One of the animal keepers, Nicki, arrived to help recapture the animals and found one cowering behind a mini-golf kiosk.
Ms Hodge said the meerkats would have been so scared that they ran away from their home to find safety.
She added: "Curator Nicki – who co-ordinated the rescue, squeezed behind the kiosk, and the meerkat was soon bravely caught by a community support police officer."
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Two members of staff stayed with the meerkats overnight to make sure they were safe and that the intruder wouldn't return.
An Essex Police spokesman said: "We are investigating reports a meerkat enclosure was damaged at Sea Life Adventure in Southend.
"A number of meerkats escaped as a result but were safely rounded up."
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Meerkats escape from Sealife Adventure in Southend
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