Crockett County sheriff hunts mystery monkey after buffalo, kangaroo and emus
A Crockett County resident’s dog would not come indoors because a small brown monkey was racing across a field. Deputies say they have already rounded up buffalo, a kangaroo and emus – and thought they had seen it all.
Some counties get lost dogs. Crockett County, Tennessee gets a full safari.
On Monday 2 November 2026, a resident in the Brim’s Corner area (near Highways 188, 88 and 54 South) reported that her dog would not come back indoors because a small brown monkey was racing across the field. The Crockett County Sheriff’s Office put out an alert asking people to keep pets and children away and not try to catch, feed or adopt the mystery primate – unless it is already yours.
Stock photo: a tufted capuchin on a branch – not the Crockett County monkey. Photo: Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons, taken 9 Jun 2018).
The punchline is the office’s own history. “At this point, we’re running out of surprised faces,” the alert said. Over the years deputies have rounded up buffalo, a kangaroo, dogs, turtles, cats, chickens, goats, emus, and more horses and cows than they can count. “We thought we had seen it all. Apparently not.”
AI illustration – imagined porch stand-off; not the actual dog or monkey.
The sheriff’s office checked with Tennessee Safari Park in the county; every animal there was accounted for. Investigators still do not know where the monkey came from. Small monkeys can be kept as pets in Tennessee without special permits, so the ask is simple: if you are missing one, ring the deputies.
AI illustration – imagined hunt. (Spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere in this picture.)
Buffalo. Kangaroo. Emus. Now a monkey. Crockett County is officially out of “surprised faces”.
Reported by UPI Odd News (3 Nov 2026) and Action News 5 / WMC.
