Gorilla-Crow
Corvis gorilla celeri
(Blame this, of course)
Description: Gorilla-crows range about three feet in length and weigh about 35 pounds. They resemble miniature gorillas with, well, the head of a large-billed crow. Gorilla-crows typically eat insects, small lizards, some plant foods, and every form of junk food ever devised by man. Lifespan is unknown, but studies suggest that Gorilla-crows reach sexual maturity somewhere in the twelfth year; the oldest individual found appears to be somewhere in her thirties. The cheeky question of how science managed to somehow miss the existence of miniature crow-headed gorillas for the last few decades has not yet been dignified with an answer.
Well. They’re not really a danger to humanity, yes? There aren’t packs of Gorilla-crows (or, as the locals mostly call them, gokarasu) rampaging through the streets of Tokyo, mobbing and eating passerby. For one thing, the animals are too small, and even in a group they’re not really aggressive, or violent. But a pack of Gorilla-crows will distract somebody having lunch for long enough for one of them to barrel in, grab and run off with that person’s box of wagashi, and then retreat to share out the pastries in a safe location. Which they’ll do: Gorilla-crows love sweets.
On the other hand; they’re smart. Smart enough to get bribed and stay bribed with a bag of snack foods. Smart enough to reliably recognize people who are nice (or mean!) to them. Smart enough to not go after anybody who is obviously poor. And, in one documented case, even smart enough to go get a cop when somebody was having a heart attack. Which means that they are definitely smart enough that the Japanese now get very, very intense when anybody looks like they want to test gokarasu to anything resembling destruction. There’s just something about the critters that appeals.
Which is nice, of course, but it’d still be great if it could be worked out where Gorilla-crows come from. Aliens are right out, time travel is fantasy, interdimensional portals are nonsense, and surely people would have noticed the existence of crow-headed miniature gorillas before now. So it’s probably just good old-fashioned bleeding-edge genetic engineering with the safety interlocks removed. Time to track down the lab!
…Well, I don’t know. This is more your team’s skill set, surely? Start by tracking the Gorilla-crows themselves. Ask around the neighborhoods, see if there are any commonalities to how the animals got there. Remember: however they got to Tokyo, it was probably by walking. Well, at least padding. Although if a pack of Gorilla-crows simply took the trains, surely somebody would have noticed that.