Man Brings on the FBI plus Federal Prison Time for Stealing Zoo’s Endangered Ring-Tailed Lemur
Photo: Isaac
SANTA ANA – A trip to the Santa Ana zoo took a turn for the worse on July 27th 2018 when Aquinas Kasbar (19) of Newport Beach, who apparently wanted a pet monkey, visited the Zoo armed with bolt cutters. According to FBI Investigators, the man “had broken into the zoo with the intention of taking a monkey for a pet, but he couldn’t get any of the monkeys to go with him.”
Rebuffed by the capuchin monkeys, the intruder released multiple animals, then turned his sights toward the ring-tailed lemurs. One of the lemurs, a 32 year old named “Isaac” who is well past the average life span of 20-25 years, and the oldest ring-tailed lemur in captivity in North America, was abducted during the night.
The next morning, shocked zoo staff found the freely-roaming escapees – all, but Isaac . “It was definitely alarming,” said Ethan Fisher, executive director of the Santa Ana Zoo. “He is a senior animal, and all of the primates have special care. They have specialized diets formulated for their species.”
Additionally, ring-tailed lemurs, native to Madagascar, are endangered and on the list of 25 most-endangered primates. U.S. District Court documents point to the illegal pet trade as part of the dilemma.
“Kasbar placed Isaac in a plastic drawer that lacked ventilation holes,” said prosecutors.. “The next day, Kasbar abandoned the animal in front of a Newport Beach hotel, leaving him in the same plastic drawer with two notes placed on it, which read, “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police.”
On that hot day, being confined to a small, vent-less plastic container – especially as lemurs are used to standing up on two legs – could have caused dire results.
Later, Isaac was returned to the zoo, unharmed. His five lemur-buddies happily resumed socializing with him. But, the question remained – who had abducted Isaac?
Kasbar was arrested a few months later on unrelated charges. According to Santa Ana PD Detective Farshid Hashempour, who investigated the case as part of an FBI task force, Kasbar actually revealed himself to be Isaac’s abductor.
While bragging to his bail agent about stealing a lemur from the zoo, he showed a phone video taken of Isaac and himself.
“While the crime may seem like a harmless prank, theft of an endangered animal is no joke—it’s a federal crime. And that’s where the FBI came in,” added Ciaran McEvoy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
FBI Investigators were joined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Newport Beach PD, and the Santa Ana PD. “There are a shortage of these animals around the world, and that’s why they’ve been given these special protections,” said FBI Special Agent Luis Altamirano, who helped investigate the case out of the Los Angeles Field Office.
Said Altamirano, “This case sent a message that we take protecting these endangered animals seriously.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel H. Ahn of the Santa Ana Branch Office and Erik M. Silber of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section served as prosecutors. Kasbar pleaded guilty on July 8th, as Isaac turned 33, to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species.
Kasbar’s desire for a special pet resulted in a loss to the Santa Ana Zoo of approximately $8,486. As a result, on 10/28/19, U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford handed Kasbar a 90-day federal prison sentence, with an order to pay restitution of $8,486 to the zoo.
“The lemur is still alive and doing well,” Hashempour said. “He seemed pretty unfazed by the adventure,” said Fisher, the zoo director. “Our vets looked at him and didn’t see any issues. Some animals are more sensitive than other to disturbances, but fortunately, Isaac was okay.”
