Man gets prison for stealing lemur from California zoo

A man who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo has been sentenced to three months in federal prison.

Aquinas Kasbar of Newport Beach on Monday was also ordered to pay more than $8,000 in restitution to the Santa Ana Zoo. The 19-year-old pleaded guilty in July to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species.

This undated and unlocated handout photo released by the US Department of Justice on July 8, 2019 shows Isaac, the oldest-living ring-tailed lemur in captivity in North America. [File Photo: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE via VCG]

In a plea agreement, Kasbar acknowledged that he broke into the zoo, cut a hole in an enclosure and took 32-year-old Isaac, the oldest captive ring-tailed lemur in North America.

The animal was placed in a container with no ventilation and later abandoned at a hotel with notes identifying it as having been taken from the zoo.

It was returned unharmed.

Ring-tailed lemurs are native to Madagascar and among the 25 most endangered primates.