 After serial publication in "Spirou" magazine, the story was released as a complete hardcover album in 1954.In "The Marsupilami's Thieves", Spirou and Fantasio regret giving the magnificent animal they brought back from the Palombian jungle, the Marsupilami, to a zoo, and decide to free the animal again and return it to its original home.This plan fails because someone else beats them to the abduction, and another quest to find the Marsupilami begins.