14 DAY TRIAL // Back in last year's December, customers of an Ikea store in Toronto, Canada started asking themselves whether or not they should visit an ophthalmologist without delay after they came face to face with a Japanese macaque wearing a winter coat and a diaper.
After the monkey was caught, it was revealed that it belonged to a real estate lawyer named Yasmin Nakhuda, who saw it as her child.
As special as the relationship between Yasmin and the Japanese macaque might have been, authorities decided to confiscate the animal.
According to Daily Mail, 19-month-old Darwin now lives at the Story Book Primate Sanctuary in Ontario. It spends its days socializing with a Curious George stuffed toy, and is just now learning “to be a monkey again.”
“When he came to us, he was lacking in confidence and unsure how to act around other monkeys,” Izzy Hirji, chair of the sanctuary’s board of directors, reportedly told the press in a recent interview.
“Through being able to see and interact with the other guys, he’s growing into a healthy, confident adolescent,” Izzy Hirji added.
Darwin's previous owner, Yasmin Nakhuda, has not yet given up hope that the Japanese macaque will be returned to her. However, a judge has ruled that Darwin is to remain at the sanctuary, so sooner or later she will have to accept that she and her pet will not be reunited.