Video shows police chasing critter that escaped in Mo.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Bounding through a darkened city park, a lemur managed to stay one step ahead of police officers armed only with a large towel.

Body camera video showed the two officers' attempts to nab the speedy little primate, which made a dash for freedom Tuesday in Springfield.

"We see the tail," one officer said with a chuckle as he tried to get closer.

Not giving up easily, the lemur raised its distinctive black-and-white banded tail and dashed away. It sprinted and weaved through a parking lot, down a sidewalk, across grass and around trees.

Eventually the officer tossed the towel like a net, but the lemur slipped out and darted away.

"Dang it!" the officer exclaimed, as a few civilians helped try to corral the critter.

Finally, another officer grabbed the lemur and held it still as his partner gently got 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 said the lemur has been connected with a local wildlife rescue agency where it will be "well cared for and loved."