Visitors leaving flowers for spider monkeys at Vancouver Zoo

At the Greater Vancouver Zoo, visitors have been leaving cards and flowers. There is one monkey missing and another dead, after someone cut into their enclosure, and mounties say this defies logic.

Yesterday some saddened young visitors at the zoo were leaving tokens, like a card or flowers, on the fence. It's the start of a memorial for zoo favourites Jocko and Mia, the spider monkeys.

Staff are devastated, and the animal care manager at the zoo is quoted in this morning's 24 Hours newspaper as saying Jocko the male probably died trying to protect his territory and mate of 15 years, from misguided thieves. Trauma is the most likely cause of death and a necropsy will be done to figure that out.

Mia would likely have returned quickly if she had left the cage on her own. THe RCMP says there are any number of possibilities. Mia may be going to the black market or she may end up as an exotic pet .

The culprit or culprits cut through the fence of the spider monkey exhibit Tuesday night, killing the male, Jocko, and apparently removing the female, zoo spokeswoman Jody Henderson told CBC News on Wednesday morning.

"We can't find our female anywhere, and so we are assuming at this stage that she is gone with them," said Henderson.

"We are absolutely devastated. They are our family. We are all extremely attached. It's shocking anyone would do this," said Henderson.

The two monkeys were both 17, and had lived at the zoo for 15 years, said Henderson.

The zoo appealed to the public for help on Wednesday and said it would be difficult for anyone without specialized training to keep the monkey as a pet.

Henderson said it was possible the monkey could have been stolen for sale on the black market, or it could have escaped on its own through the hole in the fence.

The missing monkey is described as about 50 centimetres tall. It is dark brown in colour, with a golden stomach and chest. It has steel blue eyes.

Anyone spotting the monkey is warned not to approach it because it may be traumatized, and is asked to call the zoo immediately.

"We need to find our female and find out who are these cruel individuals who would do such an awful thing," said Henderson.