A monkey found wondering outside a Toronto IKEA is "not very happy" as he adjusts to life without his owners.
The seven-month-old rhesus macaque, named Darwin, spent the night at a holding centre of Toronto's Animal Services after being seized from his owners. City staff are looking for a sanctuary and taking extra care with their unusual charge.
This species can carry a type of herpes dangerous to humans, and staff members are approaching him only after putting on gowns and respirators. They are keeping visits to a minimum and would not let the media see the monkey.
"We're minimizing [contact] because of stress to the animal and [to preserve] the safety of our people," said Mary Lou Leiher, program manger for partnerships and marketing for Animal Services. "He's not very happy right now. He's comfortable, but he's having a bad day."
Darwin's adventure started Sunday, when he was found wandering the parking lot of a North York Ikea. He was wearing a faux-shearling coat and a diaper; he had apparently opened his crate and then the door of his owners' vehicle. Alarmed and amused, passers-by shot pictures that helped carry the story around the world.
Ms. Leiher said that, in spite of his warm-weather clothing, a Canadian city is no place for a rhesus macaque.
"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she told reporters during a press conference in a cat room at Animal Services' northern region facility. "Common sense would say, Get a dog."
Animal Services staff have been feeding him fruit and are sourcing appropriate feed. But they are also reaching out to sanctuaries and hope to have him moved as soon as later Monday. Ms. Leiher said there was "no chance" he could end up in a lab.
The owners have been hit with a $240 fine for breaking the city's bylaw on prohibited animals. Ms. Leiher said they are Toronto residents who say they got the monkey in Montreal when he was about one and a half months old.
The couple have surrendered custody of the monkey to the city and it wasn't clear if they would seek visitation rights. No request had been made by late Monday morning.
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