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 IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...

store in

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

, Ontario, Canada, went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

. 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.

History

On December 9, 2012, a Japanese macaque wearing a

shearling Shearling is a skin from a recently shorn sheep or lamb that has been tanned and dressed with the wool left on. It has a suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, ...

coat and a diaper was seen wandering the parking garage at an

, Toronto, Ontario. 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. Photos of the macaque from passersby shared on Twitter,

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, and other social media sites subsequently went

, attracting international media attention as the "Ikea Monkey". The "stylish but illegal monkey", so designated by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', was later identified as "Darwin", a seven-month-old exotic pet owned by Toronto-based attorney Yasmin Nakhuda. Darwin lived in Nakhuda's home with her husband and two children, who maintained a YouTube account featuring videos of the macaque. Laws relating to the ownership of exotic pets in Ontario vary by municipality; as macaques are considered prohibited animals under the Toronto Municipal Code, Nakhuda was fined

CAD$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can ...

240 and asked to surrender the animal, which was sent to the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, north of Toronto. On December 16, Nakhuda filed a lawsuit against Story Book Farm to recover Darwin, alleging that the sanctuary was "unlawfully detain ng the macaque and that she had been forced to sign surrender papers under threat of criminal charges. The lawsuit was dismissed on September 13, 2013, 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". In January 2014, Nakhuda was ordered to pay $83,000 in legal fees to Story Book Farm. She abandoned plans to appeal the ruling in February 2014, and by 2015 had purchased two new monkeys and moved to

Pontypool, Ontario Pontypool is an unincorporated village within the southernmost part of the amalgamated city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. Prior to amalgamation, Pontypool was an unincorporated village within the township of Manvers, in the county of Victoria. It ...

, which does not prohibit the ownership of exotic pets. 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. He resides in a mixed indoor-outdoor enclosure, and enjoys playing on a

jungle gym A jungle gym (called a climbing frame in British English) is a piece of playground equipment made of many pieces of material, such as metal pipes or ropes, on which participants can climb, hang, sit, and—in some configurations—slide. Monkey ...

made from fire hoses.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , last1=Kindelan , first1=Katie , title='Ikea Monkey' Owner Vows to Fight for Primate's Return , url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/12/ikea-monkey-owner-vows-to-fight-for-primates-return/ , website= ABC News , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 11, 2012 {{cite web , last1=Perkel , first1=Colin , title=Battle over ownership of Ikea monkey finally over as 'mom' gives up appeal , url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/battle-over-ownership-of-ikea-monkey-finally-over-as-mom-gives-up-appeal-1.1708634?cache=%3FclipId , website= CTV News , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=February 28, 2014 {{cite web , last1=Notopoulos , first1=Katie , title=10 Years Later, The Ikea Monkey Is Thriving , url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/ikea-monkey-10-year-anniversary , publisher=

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...

, access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 9, 2022 {{cite web , last1=Mendoza , first1=Dorrine , title=Judge rules IKEA monkey must remain at sanctuary , url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/13/us/ikea-monkey-lawsuit/index.html , website= CNN , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=September 13, 2013 {{cite web , last1=Alberga , first1=Hannah , title=The Ikea monkey was spotted 10 years ago. This is where he is now , url=https://www.cp24.com/news/the-ikea-monkey-was-spotted-10-years-ago-this-is-where-he-is-now-1.6188441?cache=gdyzofsh%3FclipId%3D89680%3FautoPlay%3Dtrue%3FcontactForm%3Dtrue , website= CP24 , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 9, 2022 {{cite web , last1=Ballingall , first1=Alex , title=Ikea monkey 'mom' ordered to pay $83,000 in legal fees , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/01/17/ikea_monkey_mom_ordered_to_pay_83000_in_legal_fees.html, website=The Toronto Star , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=January 17, 2014 {{cite web , last1=Alphonso , first1=Caroline , title=Stylish but illegal monkey found roaming Toronto IKEA , url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/stylish-but-illegal-monkey-found-roaming-toronto-ikea/article6140276/ , website=

, access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 9, 2012 {{cite web , last1=Hui , first1=Ann , title=Darwin the 'IKEA monkey' to remain in animal sanctuary, judge rules , url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/darwin-the-ikea-monkey-to-remain-in-animal-sanctuary/article14303176/ , website=The Globe and Mail , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=September 23, 2013 {{cite web , last1=Gallant , first1=Jacques , title=Former owner of Ikea monkey defends latest primate purchases , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/21/former-owner-of-ikea-monkey-defends-latest-primate-purchases.html , website=The Toronto Star , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=January 21, 2015 {{cite web , title=Our Residents: Old World Monkeys , url=https://www.storybookmonkeys.org/old_world_monkeys.htm , website=Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary , access-date=January 23, 2023 {{cite web , last1=Kilkenny , first1=Kate , title=The IKEA Monkey Story? It's Complicated. , url=https://slate.com/culture/2012/12/ikea-monkey-story-of-darwin-yasmin-nakhudas-pet-is-complicated-video.html , website=

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

, access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 12, 2012 {{cite web , last1=Kane , first1=Laura , last2=Izri , first2=Touria , title=Stylish primate charms Toronto shoppers , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2012/12/10/ikea_monkey_stylish_primate_charms_toronto_shoppers.html , website=

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

, access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 10, 2012 {{cite web , last1=Kane , first1=Laura , title=Ikea Monkey: Darwin's owner in legal battle to get him back , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/12/16/ikea_monkey_darwins_owner_in_legal_battle_to_get_him_back.html , website=The Toronto Star , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 16, 2012 {{cite web , last1=Gallant , first1=Jacques , title=Darwin the Ikea monkey: Former owner loses court battle for custody , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/09/13/darwin_the_ikea_monkey_former_owner_loses_court_battle_for_custody.html , website=The Toronto Star , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=September 13, 2013 {{cite web , last1=Tamblyn , first1=Jordan , title=A decade ago, Darwin the Ikea monkey made headlines around the world: a timeline of the trial — and the aftermath , url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/12/09/a-decade-ago-darwin-the-ikea-monkey-made-headlines-around-the-world-a-timeline-of-the-trial-and-the-aftermath.html , website=The Toronto Star , access-date=January 22, 2023 , date=December 9, 2022 2010s fads and trends 2012 animal births Animals on the Internet Individual animals in Canada Individual monkeys Internet memes introduced from Canada Internet memes introduced in 2012 Macaca

History

See also

References