2 men arrested over trespassing incident at enclosure of monkey Punch

CHIBA — Two men claiming to be U.S. nationals have been arrested following a trespassing incident at the enclosure of Punch, a Japanese macaque abandoned by his mother who has gone viral for clinging to an orangutan plushie, at a zoo near Tokyo, police said Monday.

The arrests on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business came after one of the men climbed over a fence into the monkey habitat area at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture on Sunday morning while the other filmed him with a smartphone. No monkeys were injured, police said.

The man who scaled the fence, dressed in a character costume, claimed to be a 24-year-old university student, while the other man claimed to be a 27-year-old singer, according to police. Both have denied the allegations.

Punch was born in July and later given the orangutan plushie by zookeepers as a substitute for his mother. He began living with other monkeys in the enclosure in January and the zoo has posted updates on his progress on social media, gaining attention online and drawing many visitors.

© KYODO