13 years later, the IKEA monkey is all grown up — and his sanctuary is at capacity

Darwin knows what cameras look like and how to avoid them. From inside his enclosure, the monkey made famous in the Ikea parking lot in Toronto spots us out of the corner of his eye and darts under the table.

A 13-year-old Japanese macaque has seen enough attention to last a lifetime.

Darwin was just a baby when he was found in an Ikea parking lot in North York in 2012, wearing a diaper and a sheepskin coat, and seized by animal services. Since then he has lived at the Story Book Farm primate sanctuary in Sunderland, Ontario.

Executive director Daina Liepa had just started volunteering at the reserve when Darwin first arrived.

When she saw videos of Darwin circulating on the Internet, she noticed that he walked on two legs—Japanese macaques are quadrupedal in nature. She said the video made her think the coat and diaper were too small for his body.

Liepa said she believes Darwin's upbringing among humans made him shy of strangers as an adult. “He probably doesn't feel comfortable around people because he was forced to be around people even though he didn't necessarily want to.”

Tuesday marked the 13th anniversary of Darwin's escape from the parking lot and the start of his life in a new home.

Now Liepa said Darwin likes to ride on the indoor swing and eat grapes. She's considering introducing Darwin to his next-door neighbor Chiquita—another Japanese macaque who calls the sanctuary home—to encourage friendship.

Storybook is the only dedicated primate sanctuary in Canada, housing 24 monkeys and lemurs and reaching its maximum capacity. However, primates are among the animals taken to a fauna sanctuary in Quebec.

“We’ve never had to say no until now.”

Liepa said the shelter recently had to give up two monkeys sent there because it didn't have room for more.

“We’ve never had to say no until now,” she said. “Not only are there two monkeys that need a home, but I know there are many more.”

When he takes in new primates, the animals often arrive at the shelter in need of immediate medical attention.

“Many monkeys and lemurs are killed as a result of human trafficking,” Liepa adds. “When they arrive, they are close to death.”

As with Darwin, primates are most often referred to shelters through animal welfare services.

Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice, an animal rights organization, said the responsibility for caring for exotic animals removed from zoos, laboratory testing and other consequences of the exotic pet trade falls disproportionately on sanctuaries like Story Book.

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In particular, zoos often send out a “Book of Stories,” the reserve says. Once the animal is transferred, the shelter assumes full financial responsibility for its care.

“Why do we allow these businesses to create problems with impunity and then fail to fix them?” – said Labchuk.

Animals at risk likely number in 'hundreds of thousands': advocate

In Ontario, municipal bylaws prohibit the ownership of exotic pets, not provincial ones.

Labchuk said she would like to see the province pass stricter laws to protect animals from the exotic pet trade. She said she estimates the province's exotic animal trade has likely led to the trade of “hundreds of thousands” of primates, birds, reptiles and more.

“Since there are no restrictions on ownership or breeding in the province, it is now open season,” she said. “And there are still people who would like to buy and keep monkeys as pets, even though there is clear evidence that this is inappropriate.”

CBC Toronto has reached out to the province for comment.

At Story Book, fundraising is key to staying in business. Liepa said the sanctuary is working on a million-dollar fundraising campaign to build a place for more monkeys.

But she wishes shelters like Storybook didn't require fundraising or even exist at all.

“None of these monkeys or lemurs asked to be captured,” she said. “Part of living in the sanctuary is that they come here and die here because they have nowhere else to go.”

“So we do everything we can for them while they’re here.”