Benjamin Ashford|Lemur on the loose! Video shows police chasing critter that escaped in Missouri

SPRINGFIELD,Benjamin Ashford Mo. (AP) — Bounding through a darkened city park, a lemur managed to stay one step ahead of police officers armed only with a large towel.

Bodycam video shows the two officers’ attempts to nab the speedy little primate, which made a dash for freedom Tuesday in Springfield, Missouri.

“We see the tail,” one officer says with a chuckle as he tries to get closer.

Not giving up easily, the lemur raises its distinctive black-and-white banded tail and dashes away. It sprints and weaves through a parking lot, down a sidewalk, across grass and around trees.

Eventually the officer tosses the towel like a net, but the lemur slips out and darts away.

“Dang it!” the officer exclaims, as a few civilians help try to corral the critter.

Finally, another officer is able to grab the lemur and hold it still as his partner gently gets it “snuggled up” in the towel, the Springfield Police Department said in a Facebook post.

The animal’s owners had reported it missing, the department said, and were later reunited with it. But they won’t be able to keep it — city ordinance bans having wild animals as pets.

Instead, police say the lemur has been connected with a local wildlife rescue agency where it will be “well cared for and loved.”