Stylish Canadian monkey triggers Internet frenzy

OTTAWA - Agence France-Presse

In this Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012 photo provided by Bronwyn Page, a small monkey wearing a winter coat and a diaper wanders around at an IKEA in Toronto. The monkey let itself out of its crate in a parked car and went for a walk. The animal's owner contacted police later in the day and was reunited with their pet, police said. (AP Photo/Bronwyn Page via The Canadian Press)

A stylishly-attired monkey became an instant Internet celebrity, and triggered an animal welfare investigation, when it was found wandering in a Canadian furniture store car park.
 
The months-old rhesus macaque, named Darwin, spent the night at an animal shelter in Toronto after he was found wandering around an IKEA lot wearing a sheepskin coat on Sunday afternoon.
 
Darwin apparently opened his crate and the door of his owner's vehicle and went for a stroll. His adventure, however, didn't stop there.
 
Snap-happy Canadians took photographs of the cute critter and posted them online and Darwin immediately became a viral sensation on social media.
 
His image was pasted into mockups of the IKEA catalogue, atop Toronto's CN Tower, in Canada's parliament seated next to the prime minister and elsewhere.
 
A prankster registered a Twitter account in Darwin's name, writing: "I'm way over dressed for this animal shelter" and "There's a cat giving me weird looks... What do I do?" Outside Canada's parliament, opposition MP Chris Charlton evoked the monkey in swipes at the government: "

"Conservatives are as lost as a monkey in an IKEA. Though at least the monkey was wearing a coat to cover his shame." But animal welfare authorities were less amused.
 
Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto's Animal Services said: "He's not very happy right now. He's comfortable, but he's having a bad day." Canada is no place for a rhesus macaque, she told a press conference.

"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she said. "Common sense would say, 'Get a dog.'" Darwin's owners have reportedly been slapped with a Can$240 (187 euro) fine for owning a prohibited exotic pet and Animal Services is now looking for a new home for Darwin at an animal sanctuary.