This car is zoo-ming.
Police are on the hunt for the suspects behind a series of wild videos showcasing a monkey and lion cub inside a car as it drove through the streets of Israel.
One of the viral videos showed the exotic animals inside the car driving through Israel’s Negev district on Wednesday, with the monkey seen walking around the dashboard hooked up to a metal chain, according to public broadcaster KAN.
The sleepy lion cub could be seen nearby sitting on the lap of the person in the passenger’s seat, with the cub’s body shaking back and forth on the bumpy roads.
The video was interspersed with footage of the monkey being posed near a pack of cigarettes and a drink for comedic effect.
Just hours after the footage was aired, officers in the Bir Hadaj settlement in south Israel said they found the monkey from the video and had taken it into custody.
The simian was handed over to Nature and Parks Authority inspectors for a health evaluation and treatment, officials said.
Police are still on the hunt for the lion cub featured in the video, as well as for the individuals involved in illegally processing the animals. Officials are treating the case as a breach of Israel’s animal welfare laws.
It’s not rare for people to try to smuggle animals, even lion cubs, into Israel.
Back in 2023, Israeli police rescued a lion cub who had been smuggled through the southern border after being sold multiple times on social media, The Jerusalem Post reports.
The lion, which was suffering from poor living conditions, became famous and dubbed Abu Malek, with the cub eventually transferred to a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa.
