Two American tourists traveled to a Japanese zoo to see viral monkey Punch, but a bizarre stunt inside the enclosure led to their immediate arrest

The Japanese monkey, also known as “Punch” quickly became an internet sensation over its interaction with an adorable stuffed toy that melted the hearts of millions. As a result, many visitors from various nations visited the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, where this young macaque currently lives. It looks like these American tourists also planned something similar, but a bizarre stunt they pulled near the monkey’s enclosure forced the authorities to step in.

It’s not like they did something harmful to the poor animals. But according to Fox News, one of them, dressed in a weird emoji costume, climbed over the boundaries and entered the enclosure. The entire footage of this scene is spreading online, where one can clearly see the person getting inside and dropping a stuffed toy near the innocent monkeys. Per the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the person’s actions startled them and caused the animals to retreat.

Two suspects were involved, and, according to the AFP, they were identified as a 27-year-old self-described singer and a 24-year-old college student. When the zoo staff saw this questionable scene, they intervened, and authorities were involved. The Ichikawa police told AFP that both were arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business. The intention behind this stunt is still unknown.

Was it an attempt to go viral?

We have heard of a case where a person entered a lion’s territory at the zoo. While that resulted in his death, this monkey incident turned out to be a valuable lesson for these two. There is no evidence to confirm the real intention behind their odd actions. However, it could be linked to a failed attempt to go viral. Punch became an internet sensation almost overnight, thanks to the monkey’s interaction with a stuffed toy it found a soft corner in. So, theoretically, these two might have done it to go viral, which could explain why they dropped a stuffed toy near the monkey.

It turned out to be the exact opposite, though. As per the outlet, the zoo wrote, “Around 10:50 today, there was an intruder in Saruyama. We are informing you that the two individuals, including the intruder in question, have been handed over to the police.” Both tourists were handed over to the authorities, and then a safety inspection was made. It’s already quite obvious in the footage, but they confirmed no animals were harmed in this incident.

Apart from these two, the experience of other spectators may also have been affected. Following this incident, the zoo decided to implement viewing-area closures and enhance its security to prevent anything like this from happening again. Like a toddler whose hand got caught in a wolf’s jaws near the enclosure, crossing the boundary is completely unacceptable, even if the animals are innocent monkeys. Well, whatever their intention was, it looks like these two have learned a valuable lesson about respecting boundaries when interacting with animals at a zoo.