They say that Ikea has everything a shopper needs. And for one Canadian Ikea, that apparently includes monkeys.
On Sunday a stylish 5-month old monkey got loose at an Ikea in Toronto, and images of the animal soon exploded on social media. The monkey, identified as a male Rhesus macaque named Darwin, was wearing a shearling coat and a diaper.
Bronwyn Page, an associate producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), happened to be at Ikea and tweeted several photos of Darwin.
"It was running between people," Page told CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "They were trying to call it towards them. It was really scared. They were trying to get away from cars. We realized it didn't belong to any of those people. It was disbelief at first. We thought it was a fake toy monkey. It was very unexpected to see it at Ikea. It seemed nervous. It was coming to anyone. It seemed pretty scared. There was a lot of people around. It was doing some monkey screaming, like jungle noises."
Darwin was eventually captured and brought to Toronto's animal services department, where he was in "good health." Authorities believe he escaped from his owner's crate before wandering around the parking lot.
Mary Lou Leiher, who works for the animal services department, confirmed that Darwin will be confiscated from his owners and given to a local animal sanctuary. Despite the fact that monkeys are prohibited as pets in Toronto, charges will not be filed against Darwin's owners.
"We want to make sure [Darwin] goes to a place where they're knowledgeable about how to care for him," Leiher said. "He's a baby, he's a little bit sensitive."