The Ikea monkey was spotted 10 years ago. This is where he is now
A monkey cloaked in a tiny shearling coat was found roaming an Ikea in Toronto 10 years ago to date and in that time, he’s regained his freedom, his current owner says.
Dubbed the “Ikea Monkey,” Darwin, a Japanese macaque, was around six months old when he escaped from his crate, unlocked his owner’s car door and walked out into the Ikea parking lot in North York on Dec. 9, 2012.
The rarity of the sighting aroused international headlines, placing Darwin in the spotlight. But Daina Liepa, executive director of Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, said he’s spent his time since indulging in a contrasting trait: shyness.
“His previous owner took him on a leash with her to the office. As I see it, now he has the choice and that’s the choice he makes,” Liepa said.
After Darwin’s Ikea outing, his former owner was charged for having a prohibited animal in the city and faced a $240 fine.
When animals are bred for the exotic animal trade, they are taken away from their mothers from almost the moment they are born, Liepa explained. Until he arrived, she says the sanctuary believes he was never around other animals.
“He was understandably very shy when he came to us. Imagine for a 6-month-old human baby what it’s like to just be plunked somewhere else,” Liepa said.
But now, surrounded by 25 other monkeys and lemurs in his Sunderland, Ont., home, he has the agency and mentorship that seemed to be absent in the early days of his life.
Darwin in a recent photo at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary (Supplied).
“The big difference of him being at [a] sanctuary is he can go inside and outside when he likes … he always has the freedom,” Liepa said.
She noted that over the course of the last decade, little has changed about the laws surrounding exotic animal ownership in Ontario.
Currently, the province bans orcas and pit bulls as pets, but thousands of other exotic animals, including tigers, lions and venomous snakes are permitted, as long as they are not banned by municipalities.
Darwin at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in 2022 (Supplied).
But as for Darwin, Liepa said he’s come a long way.
“Darwin came from a life at the end of a leash wearing clothes and a diaper to a life where he chooses when he wants to go outdoors in the company of other monkeys.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Ontario coroner to investigate death of man who suffered cardiac arrest while waiting in ER
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.