Darwin the Ikea monkey
Darwin was found in the parking lot of the Ikea on December 9, 2012. The seven-month old rhesus macaque Japanese monkey had on a sheepskin coat and was wandering about alone. Photos of the little guy went viral.
According to owner Nakhuda her pet escaped from his cage and her car. He tried to go into the store, perhaps to find Nakhuda, and was seen struggling to open doors. Toronto city staff took Darwin in and he was soonafter taken to a local animal sanctuary called Story Brook Farm, where he still lives.
Nakhuda was fined $240 for keeping a primate as a pet but she launched a lawsuit to try and get Darwin back from Story Brook Farm. She dropped it in 2013 — she had to pay Story Brook’s legal costs — and now has purchased two other monkeys, both Japanese macaques like Darwin and each 6-years-old, Sumo, a male, and Tibet, female.
Macaque monkeys in Pontypool
The story has other twists as Sumo and Tibet were purchased by Nakhuda from the Northwood Zoo and Animal Sanctuary in Seagrave, Ontario. She has the two living with her in a small town called Pontypool in the Kawartha Lakes region where there is currently no by-law against having exotic pets.
The sanctuary they come from is one that Story Brook, where Darwin is, was trying to raised funds to buy. They were looking to take over the farm and its 20 or so monkeys and had noted on their web page that Sumo and Tibet would be great companions for Darwin.
Supporters of Nakhuda note on Facebook that the only way Sumo and Tibet will be great companions for Darwin now is if they give Darwin back to Nakhuda. There appears to be a stand-off and it is not likely the three monkeys will ever live together.
The Facebook posting reports that the two are doing well and that Sumo is “quiet and observant” while the female Tibet is “feisty, inquisitive and active.”
