Darwin (monkey)
"Ikea Monkey" who went viral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darwin (born c. May 2012), colloquially referred to as the Ikea Monkey, is a male Japanese macaque who attracted international media attention in 2012 after images of him wandering an IKEA store in North York, Ontario, Canada, went viral. Darwin was determined to be a prohibited exotic pet and surrendered to Story Book Farm, an Ontario-based animal sanctuary where he now resides. A lawsuit brought by Darwin's former owner against Story Book Farm to return the animal was dismissed in 2013.
Excerpt of the 2012 viral image of Darwin wearing a shearling coat | |
| Other name | Ikea Monkey |
|---|---|
| Species | Japanese macaque |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | c. May 2012 (age 14)[1] |
| Residence | Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, Sunderland, Ontario |
History
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 "Lost monkey roams Ikea", from CNN in 2012 | |
| "What Happened to the Ikea Monkey?", from the CBC in 2018 | |
| "10 years later, the Ikea monkey is doing 'amazingly well'", from CP24 in 2022 |
On December 9, 2012, a Japanese macaque[1] wearing a shearling coat and a diaper was seen wandering the parking garage at an IKEA in North York, Toronto, Ontario.[2] The macaque, which had escaped from a crate inside a car in the parking garage, was peacefully herded into a corner of the facility before being recovered by Toronto Animal Services.[2] Photos of the macaque from passersby shared on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites subsequently went viral, attracting international media attention as the "Ikea Monkey".[2][3][4]
The "stylish but illegal monkey", so designated by The Globe and Mail,[2] was later identified as "Darwin", a seven-month-old pet monkey owned by Toronto-based attorney Yasmin Nakhuda.[3][5] Darwin lived in Nakhuda's home with her husband and two children, who maintained a YouTube account featuring videos of the macaque.[6] Laws relating to the ownership of exotic pets in Ontario vary by municipality;[7] as macaques are considered prohibited animals under the Toronto Municipal Code, Nakhuda was fined CA$240 and asked to surrender the animal, which was sent to the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, north of Toronto.[5][7]
On December 16, Nakhuda filed a lawsuit against Story Book Farm to recover Darwin, alleging that the sanctuary was "unlawfully detain[ing]" the macaque and that she had been forced to sign surrender papers under threat of criminal charges.[8] The lawsuit was dismissed on September 13, 2013,[9] with the court finding no evidence of coercion and ruling that Darwin is a wild animal "by virtue of his behaviour and qualities", and that Nakhuda "lost ownership of the monkey when she lost possession".[10] In January 2014, Nakhuda was ordered to pay $83,000 in legal fees to Story Book Farm.[11] She abandoned plans to appeal the ruling in February 2014,[12] and by 2015 had purchased two new monkeys and moved to Pontypool, Ontario, which does not prohibit the ownership of exotic pets.[13]
Darwin has resided at Story Book Farm since 2012. Workers reported that Darwin was shy and under-socialized when he arrived at the sanctuary, but that he gradually acclimated to playing with other macaques, and now has a best friend named Maximus.[14][15] He resides in a mixed indoor-outdoor enclosure, and enjoys playing on a jungle gym made from fire hoses.[15]
See also
- List of individual monkeys
- Pockets Warhol, a capuchin monkey formerly also housed at Story Book Farm