Ikea Monkey in Winter Coat Melts Hearts (VIDEO)
A 7-month-old monkey was discovered in an Ikea parking lot on Sunday.
While the monkey appeared to be scared, he was adequately dressed for the weather and sporting a beige winter coat. Bystanders, who claimed they did not realize the animal was a monkey at first, immediately responded by trying to draw the monkey into safety, according to reports.
"All the people were trying to, like, call it towards them, but it was very scared," Bronwyn Page told the Reuters news agency. "It was darting all over the place. They were trying to get it away from cars, and then it became clear to us that none of the people there were actually the owners."
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After some efforts, locals were able to guide the monkey inside the Ikea store where employees were promptly alerted about their unusual guest.
"Our staff immediately went up there [top deck of the parking lot] and were able to have the monkey held safely until Animal Services came," store manager Alvaro Carmona told ABCNews.com. "It was pretty quick that it happened."
According to Toronto police, the monkey broke free out of a cart that was in the back of car located in the store parking lot. Ikea employees held the monkey until Animal Services arrived to collect the monkey. Another witness said that the animal appeared to be tame.
"The monkey was pretty much domesticated, as you can see in the pictures," Carmona said. "The monkey was pretty cooperative so the staff just held him."
The owner of the monkey turned himself over to authorities and was fined for possessing a prohibited animal, although he will not be criminally charged, according to Reuters. The monkey was also given a medical check up and is reportedly in good health.
