Twitter goes bananas for #IkeaMonkey

Shoppers outside an IKEA home furnishings store in Toronto on Dec. 9, 2012, were surprised to find a 7-month-old rhesus macaque monkey loose in the store's parking lot decked out in a tan coat. / @broniewyn/Twitter

Twitter has gone abuzz with news of a monkey wandering around an Ikea in Toronto.

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Monkey runs amok in Ikea parking lot

Customers spotted a monkey -- clad in a pint-sized shearling coat -- wandering around the store's parking lot Sunday afternoon. The baby monkey, named Darwin, made its way through rows of parked cars and ended up outside a set of store doors.

Ikea staff lured the primate into a corner before calling police, who contacted the city's Animal Services department, said Staff Sgt. Ed Dzingala.

"It was just outside the store, just in a corner area where the monkey had nowhere to go, but it was pretty scared," Dzingala said. He said the monkey had escaped its crate in a parked car.

The monkey, which reportedly wore a diaper as well, never made it inside the store and was picked up by Animal Services officers within half an hour. The animal's owner later contacted police and was reunited with the pet, Dzingala said.

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Monkey in IKEA photos go viral

Word of the incident sparked a flurry of comments and photos on Twitter, as well as two parody Twitter accounts which took on the persona of the wandering monkey.

The #IkeaMonkey hashtag garnered over 2,300 tweets on Monday, according to the social metrics site Topsy.com.The primate has also inspired several jokes and spinoffs in Twitter and Instagram.

Mary Lou Leiher from Toronto Animal Services said the monkey's owners have been fined $240 for breaking the city's prohibited-animal bylaw. She said Darwin was being fed and cared for while officials tried to find an animal sanctuary for it.

Leiher said there's a chance the monkey is carrying Herpes B and that having it live in a city puts both the animal and human beings at risk.

She said the monkey was very quiet and lacked signs of personality during a brief visit, adding that can be a sign of stress.

[JAMCDAID]

Say what you will

[varigdc10]

Think about this, a bird sitting inside a cage is not singing, the sound you hear from the bird are actually cries asking for freedom.

[nytosf]

Do I hear mascot ?

[Egerie]

Why must people insist on confining wild animals?

They don't belong with us. If you must be with them, please go live in their habitat. They will either welcome you, or not.

[djseavy]

It's a cute little guy, and hard to resist the temptation to have one as a pet. But he's still a wild animal, and belongs in his native habitat. This story thus far has had a happy ending, but it could have been very tragic, not only for humans, but for Darwin. He could easily have been hit by a car, or someone could have abducted him. I don't doubt he was stressed. Going to an Ikea this time of year is enough to stress anyone - human or not!