1/21/13: Lemurs on the lam attack 2-year-old Miami girl

FLORIDA -- Monday morning, officers with the North Miami Beach Police Department responded to 173nd Street and 20th Avenue after receiving reports of two ring-tailed lemurs roaming the area.

One of the officers responding to the call was North Miami Beach Police Sergeant Richard Rand.

 

Rand initially thought the call was a prank by fellow officers, telling the Herald Tribune it was the first time in his career he had been dispatched to "a call like this".

 Before the lemurs could be captured, one of them reportedly attacked a two-year-old girl as she and her mother exited their car. The girl received a minor injury to her face. Rand stated:

"She has a scratch on her face, she wasn't hospitalized, her parents were on scene. I believe her mother was with her during the incident. Fire Rescue treated her immediately."

The lemurs' owner, Julio Hincapie, told police he keeps the pair caged in his back yard. When asked how the two managed to escape, he told the Miami Herald he thinks someone tried to steal the pair from their cage. Hincapie went on to say:

"They were running around, everybody was chasing them, a lot of lights. They were scared, that's it."

 

 

Hincapie was able to capture one of the lemurs, while a police officer used a catch pole to capture the second when it jumped onto the trunk of a police car.

 Authorities with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are investigating the incident, but stated Hincapie does have the permits required to legally own the animals. Both lemurs were returned to Hincapie's care.

(Digital Journal - Jan 21, 2013)