:'( Ikea monkey Darwin headed to animal sanctuary in Ontario Sarah Del Giallo and Josh Visser | Dec 10, 2012 2:24 PM ET | Last Updated: Dec 10, 2012 5:39 PM ET THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Bronwyn PageA small monkey wearing a winter coat and a diaper apparently looks for its owners at an IKEA in Toronto on Sunday Dec. 9, 2012. Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Email Comments More Darwin, the Ikea monkey, is on his way to a new home: the Storybook Farms Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, about 100 km northeast of Toronto. That makes it unlikely he will be popping up in any store parking lots anytime soon. The monkey, now a worldwide sartorial sensation after photos spread of him in a North York Ikea parking lot while wearing a fitted coat, is a prohibited animal under Torontoās bylaws. He was taken into animal services custody. From there, he was loaded for transport to the sanctuary just before 1:30 p.m. on Monday. City of TorontoA City of Toronto pictures shows Darwin in a cage as he travels to his new home at an animal sanctuary north of Toronto. Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto Animal Services said he is doing just fine. āHeās obviously had a stressful time. Heās been separated from his family,ā she said. ā[But] heās been eating. Heās obviously not too upset. Torontoās Animal Services says Darwin, a rhesus macaque monkey, is seven months old and his owners are originally from Montreal. Ms. Leiher said he was in the care of his owners for about five-and-a-half months, and was handed over to Animal Services without papers or vaccination certificates. The owners, who Animal Services will not identify, did not know Darwin was an illegal animal in Toronto and have been given a $240 fine. The owners signed over custody of Darwin to Animal Services, which described Darwin as āagitatedā after his capture but in good health. He was spotted in the Ikea parking lot in North York Sunday afternoon wearing a fitted coat. The scared monkey was cornered by Ikea employees before Animal Services officers were able to wrangle him. Darwin was evolved enough to escape the clutches of his ownerās vehicle, police said. āIt apparently let itself out of its crate, opened the car door and went for a walk,ā Toronto Police Sgt. Ed Dzingala said. āSmart monkey.ā THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout, Bronwyn PageA small monkey wearing a winter coat and a diaper apparently looks for it's owners in an IKEA parking lot as customers take photos in Toronto on Sunday Dec. 9, 2012. The monkey let itself out of its crate in a parked and went for a walk. The animal's owner contacted police later in the day and was reunited with their pet, police said. Heās obviously had a stressful time. Heās been separated from his familyBut laws prohibiting animals are in place for a reason, said Ms. Leiher. āThey have specific exercise needs, dietary needs, and of course, emotional needs,ā she said. āIf youāre thinking about wading into the territory of having a prohibited pet, just donāt do it.ā THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Bronwyn PageA small monkey wearing a winter coat and a diaper apparently looks for its owners in an IKEA parking lot as customers take photos in Toronto on Sunday Dec. 9, 2012.
oh this one is an hour old Ikea monkey Darwin checks into his new home at animal sanctuary in rural Ontario Sarah Del Giallo and Tristin Hopper | Dec 10, 2012 9:15 PM ET Darren Calabrese/National PostDarwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, plays in a hamper at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012 Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Email Comments More Bronwyn Iler Page@broniewyn Umm saw a monkey in the #ikea parking lot.pic.twitter.com/ZFJdIlQl 9 Dec 12 Reply Retweet Favorite After shooting to international fame in a matter of hours, a well-dressed monkey found in the parking lot of a Toronto IKEA will now be spending his days at a primate sanctuary in rural Ontario after he was seized from his owners. On Sunday, Darwin, a seven-month-old rhesus macaque wearing a diaper and dressed in a miniature shearling-like winter coat,somehow let himself out of a parked car and wandered around the store, where he was soon spotted by baffled shoppers. āUmm saw a monkey in the IKEA parking lot,ā reads a Sunday Tweet by witness Bronwyn Page. The Toronto woman soon found herself as the international face of the bizarre event, fielding questions from across Canada, the U.S. and in the U.K. As it is illegal to keep a monkey as a pet in Toronto, by Toronto Animal Services seized Darwin and his owners, who recently brought the monkey from Montreal, were fined $240. On Monday afternoon, Darwin checked into his new home at Sunderland, Ont.ās Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary. Related Ikea monkey Darwin headed to animal sanctuary in Ontario Ikea monkey is named Darwin is only seven months old Gary Clement on the Ikea monkey Darren Calabrese/National PostDarwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, plays on a ball in an enclosure at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012. āWe were relieved that he was coming to a place where his needs are going to be met first,ā sanctuary founder Sherri Delaney told the Post on Monday. Meanwhile a woman describing herself as the monkeyās āmotherā pleaded for his return during an interview with Torontoās CityNews. āI know he cannot live without me,ā said real estate agent Yasmin Nakhuda. āAnd everyone who knows Darwin can vouch for this. He needs his mother like a child needs his mother.ā Although she did not doubt that Darwinās owners āloved him very much,ā Ms. Delaney asked people āto think before they do this.ā āThese animals are not meant as pets. Theyāre not meant to take the place of a child,ā she said. āDid he need to be in a coat? No, he didnāt. Did he need to be in a diaper? No.ā At the sanctuary, which currently holds 22 primates, Darwin will be paired up with a āmotherlyā monkey. A troop animal that requires constant contact and stimulation, Darwin will live among two Japanese macaques and two more rhesus monkeys, who are soon expected to arrive at the sanctuary from lab situations in the Greater Toronto Area. Throughout the weekend, Darwinās story made headlines from the Mediterranean island of Malta to Melbourne, Australia, and beyond ā arguably becoming the most internationally recognized news story to come out of Canada since the June search for alleged dismemberment killer Luka Magnotta. Darren Calabrese/National PostThe infant's coat made by Micromotion that Darwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, was wearing, rests on a table at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012. Darwinās story earned a mention by CNNās Anderson Cooper and online, he garnered at least two mock Twitter accounts and his own hashtag, in addition to countless photoshopped images. Many cheered the five-month-old monkeyās fashion cred. āCanāt wait to dish critique on that divine, Russian-inspired shearling coat,ā chimed Canadian fashion journalist Jeanne Beker. Toronto Animal Services spokeswoman Mary Lou Leiher said Darwin was in good shape after being captured. āHeās a baby. Heās a little bit sensitive,ā Ms. Leiher told reporters Monday, adding that it was a āstressful timeā for Darwin. Darren Calabrese/National PostDarwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, plays in the corner of an enclosure at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012. Darren Calabrese/National PostDarwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, plays in a hamper at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012. Ms. Leiher said there are good reasons to outlaw the ownership of animals like Darwin. In addition to the dangers Darwin personally faced by wandering around a parking lot, rhesus monkeys are capable of carrying herpes B, a virus that is potentially lethal if passed to humans. āThe bylaw is in place to protect the safety of the public as well as the safety and health of the animal,ā she said. Greg Tarry, a manager with the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said monkeys may be small and cute when they are young, but that keeping one as a pet can be dangerous as the creature grows older and more assertive. āYou start getting into competitions about āwhoās in charge here,ā and then the animal becomes aggressive,ā he said. āAnd if that happens, youāve got an animal without social skills unable to live in a society of primates whoās too aggressive to live with people.ā āYouāve basically got an animal with no future at all,ā said Mr. Tarry, a former head of animal care at the Calgary Zoo. National Post, with files from The Canadian Press Darren Calabrese/National PostDarwin, the rhesus macaque found at an Ikea in Toronto, plays on a ball in an enclosure at the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont. on Monday, December 10, 2012.