Ikea Monkey goes viral in Toronto

Sometimes I'll have a good idea of what's on the agenda for the next day, and then a monkey dressed in a tiny shearling coat escapes from a car outside a Toronto IKEA and everything goes bananas.

The facts right know are as follows: Sunday afternoon in a chilly parking lot near Leslie and the 401, bemused shoppers spotted a nattily dressed primate running amongst cars. After a brief chase, security guards cornered the jacketed simian until Animal Services arrived. According to the Star, a rep from the North York division said the animal was in shock but has "calmed down now that we've been feeding it some grapes."

The owner of the rhesus macaque turned himself in around 5 pm and will likely face a fine and the loss of his animal to a sanctuary. Keeping certain exotic animals, particularly ones smart enough to open a cage door from the inside, is forbidden in Toronto.

According to by-law No. 28-1999, it's illegal to keep any "non-human primate" in Toronto. Hybrid wolf dogs, sloths, tigers, hyaenas, kangaroos, badgers, elephants, alligators, emus, and "screamers," whatever they are, are just a selection of the animals the city doesn't want outside of its zoos. Australian sugar gliders - by the way - are totally fine.

Here's the best of #ikeamonkey on Twitter.

Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.

Photo by "dzd_lisa" on Instagram.