Darwin

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, 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. History On December 10, 2012, a Japanese macaque wearing a shearling coat and a diaper was seen wandering the parking garage at an Ikea in North York, 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 store before being recovered by Toronto Animal Services. 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". The "stylish but illegal monkey", so designated by The Globe and Mail, 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$240 and asked to surrender the animal, which was sent to the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, north of Toronto.