An endangered lemur that went missing from the San Francisco Zoo has been found by a five-year-old in their school playground.
The 21-year-old male lemur named Maki was discovered missing on Wednesday morning before the zoo opened to visitors.
Investigators found evidence of a forced entry to the lemur enclosure.
By Thursday evening Maki had been found safe and well after a young boy spotted a lemur hiding in the plastic playhouses at Hope Lutheran Day School in Daly City.
James Trinh, 5, was reportedly the first to spot Maki in his school playground.
He told ABC7 news that it was "exciting" to discover a lemur at his school.
"I like the way they loook. Grey, black, and white," James added.
Animal care and control and Daly City Police soon arrived at the school to take Maki back to safety.
Ed Pool, chair of the San Francisco Zoological board said: "We do not think he escaped, we think he was taken from the zoo, but we have yet to get confirmation on either of those."
Mr Poole also told ABC7 News that he plans to reward James with a lifetime membership to the San Francisco Zoo.
Maki was born at the zoo in 1999 and has an offspring in the enclosure, zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said.
The outdoor lemur habitat, considered the largest of its kind in the country, houses seven different lemur species native to Madagascar, according to the zoo's website.
"Guests can see the lemurs from several vantage points: from across a surrounding pond, looking eye to eye at lemurs in the trees or gazing down below from an elevated boardwalk," the website says.
