![]() Excerpt of the 2012
viral image of Darwin wearing a
shearling coat | |
Other name(s) | Ikea Monkey |
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Species | Japanese macaque |
Sex | Male |
Born | c. May 2012 (age 12) [1] |
Residence | Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, Sunderland, Ontario |
Darwin, 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.
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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 exotic pet 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 CAD$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]