Two Americans arrested after jumping into monkey enclosure at Japanese zoo

Two U.S. nationals have been arrested after one jumped into the enclosure of a monkey named Punch at a Japanese zoo while the other filmed the stunt, police said.

One of the men, who identified himself as a 24-year-old college student, is accused of scaling a fence to access Punch’s enclosure on Sunday morning. The other man described himself as a 27-year-old singer.

Both have denied the allegations. Police said no monkeys were injured during the incident.

Clips of the now nine-month-old macaque attracted millions of views earlier this year after it was seen hugging a stuffed toy orangutan given to him by keepers at Ichikawa City Zoo after he was rejected by his mother.

Footage purportedly of Sunday’s incident, filmed by other zoo visitors and shared on social media, shows a person wearing a costume and carrying a stuffed toy jumping over a fence and into the monkey enclosure. The costume was reportedly promoting a cryptocurrency.

The person can then be seen being led out by a zookeeper.

The two men held by police have been arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business, according to local media.

Ichikawa City Zoo said in a statement on Monday that it had filed a damage report with the police and was implementing countermeasures to prevent future incidents.

These include expanding the enclosure’s viewing restriction area and installing intrusion prevention nets, the zoo said.

The zoo added that it is considering a full ban on filming around the monkey enclosure and has temporarily paused requests from YouTubers to film.

The men did not get close to the animals and were quickly apprehended by zoo workers, a police official told the AFP news agency.

Since Punch moved into the shared enclosure in January, the zoo has regularly posted social media updates about him. He first gained attention for his attachment to his soft toy, dragging it around and playing with it.

The zoo previously said Punch initially struggled to bond with other monkeys, finding companionship only in the toy and zookeepers after being abandoned by his mother.

Recent updates indicate he is integrating with the other macaques, including being hugged by them and engaging in grooming.

There have been other incidents of people trespassing into zoo enclosures after animals became internet sensations.

Last month, a man was fined $300 for breaking into the enclosure of Moo Deng, an endangered baby pygmy hippo who gained global attention after images of her went viral, at a zoo in Thailand.