Did They Target the SNS Star Monkey? American Tourist Intrudes into Japanese Zoo Enclosure

Japanese Zoo Gains Popularity Thanks to Baby Monkey "Punch"

American Tourist Trespasses into Monkey Enclosure

Monkeys Panic Amid Sudden Intrusion

An unusual incident occurred at a zoo in Japan, where an American tourist wearing an emoticon costume intruded into a monkey enclosure and caused a commotion.

Intrusion into Monkey Enclosure Wearing Emoticon Costume

An American man dressed in an emoticon costume intruding into a monkey cage at a Japanese zoo.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail on May 18 (local time), the incident took place the previous day at Ichikawa City Zoo in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. This zoo gained fame earlier this year after a baby monkey named "Punch" became very popular on social media (SNS).

Video footage from the scene shows a man dressed in an emoticon costume from head to toe jumping into the monkey enclosure. The sudden intrusion startled the monkeys, causing them to run away in panic.

On-site visitors shouted and protested at the man walking around inside the enclosure, and a zoo employee soon appeared to escort him out. The man waved at the visitors and acted in ways that appeared intended to create provocative content, but fortunately, it was reported that he did not come into direct contact with the baby monkey, Punch.

Regarding the incident, Japanese authorities stated that two American men were arrested at the scene. Police investigation revealed that they were Reed Zanai Dayson (24) and Neil Javari Duan (27). Dayson jumped over the fence into the monkey exhibit, while Duan is accused of filming the incident. They reportedly gave false names to police at the time of arrest and did not have any identification on them.

The Ichikawa Police Station has charged Dayson and Duan with obstruction of business, but it is reported that both denied the charges in court.

Zoo: "Partial Access Restricted... Filming Also Prohibited"

Following the incident, Ichikawa Zoo announced through its official X (formerly Twitter) account that viewing access to the monkey enclosure where Punch resides would be partially restricted during the investigation.

The zoo explained that it plans to install anti-intrusion netting around the exhibit and implement additional patrols to protect the monkeys. Additionally, filming in front of the monkey enclosure will be prohibited in the future, and all collaboration requests from YouTubers for filming will be declined for the time being. The zoo stated, "No unusual symptoms have been observed among the monkeys following the commotion."

Meanwhile, the baby monkey Punch drew worldwide attention earlier this year after a video of it tightly hugging an orangutan doll garnered millions of views on social media. Initially, Punch was not accepted by the monkey group, which drew sympathy, but after continued efforts by the zoo, it finally succeeded in adapting to the group last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.