Overview

• Two young men were convicted for stealing Ruma, a juvenile baboon, from Leipzig Zoo in March 2024, while a third accomplice faced charges for related crimes.
• The Chemnitz court handed each defendant a 3½-year youth imprisonment sentence, emphasizing rehabilitation and ruling out suspended sentences due to reoffending risks.
• The theft, which involved breaking into the zoo and crossing a water moat, marked the start of a two-month crime spree including burglaries, extortion, and violent resistance against police.
• Key evidence included photos and videos of the suspects posing with the stolen baboon in a Chemnitz garage.
• Ruma was recovered four days after the theft and has since been relocated abroad as Leipzig Zoo ended its housing of Barbary macaques.