Ikea Monkey? No, that's not the latest product you can buy at the Swedish furniture shop who has pretty everything available. Instead, a cute little monkey in a coat was spotted making the rounds at an Ikea store in Toronto, Canada on Sunday, according to reports.
The monkey's owners, who were shopping in the store at the time, eventually came out to claim their pet, but not before the primate became an Internet sensation, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Ikea monkey shocked shoppers as he walked around the parking lot into the Ikea store. "It was the weirdest thing," shopper Stephanie Yim told CBC News. "I thought I was going insane."
"We saw a crowd of people surrounding a small animal, and we quickly realized it was a monkey wearing a coat and a diaper. That was pretty bizarre," CBC's Bronwyn Page said in a radio interview.
"It was running between people. They were trying to call it towards them. It was really scared. They were trying to get away from cars. We realized it didn't belong to any of those people."
The monkey was eventually reunited with its owners, who were shopping in the store, the Canadian Press reported. Shortly afterwards, the five-month-old monkey was taken in by the city's animal services department since it's illegal to keep a monkey in Toronto.
Mary Lou Leiher who is with Toronto's animal services department, said the incident illustrates why people should not attempt to own exotic pets, which often have special needs.
"This is why we have a bylaw against keeping prohibited animals in the city. The animal's safety was at risk and the public was at risk."
Leiher said the monkey's former owners co-operated with transferring ownership of the animal to the city.
The Ikea monkey has become an online viral sensation, with users photoshopping the Ikea monkey images with funny faces. See more at Buzzfeed.
