On December 9, 2012, a woman shopping at an Ikea in Toronto saw an unusual customer: a Japanese snow macaque. A photo she took of the monkey gazing balefully through the glass door in a tiny shearling coat spread across the internet, and a meme was born: the Ikea monkey.
Ten years later, Darwin the monkey is living his best monkey life. “He is doing very well. He is allowed to behave like a monkey instead of a human baby,” said Daina Liepa, volunteer executive director of the Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary in Ontario, he told BuzzFeed News.
Darwin was about 6 months old when, dressed in a coat and diaper, he escaped from his owner’s car and got lost in Ikea. He ended up at the primate sanctuary in Sunderland, Ontario, after local animal control brought him in. (His former owner of him later tried without success sue to get it back). When Darwin first arrived at the sanctuary, the staff provided him with extra care and food to help him acclimatize. Slowly he settled in and began to play with other monkeys. He now he even has a best friend named Maximus.
