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
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.