Two American nationals were arrested in Japan after a stunt in which one entered the monkey enclosure at a zoo where a baby macaque named Punch became a global internet sensation this year, police said Monday.<\/p>\n
One of the men, who identified himself as a 24-year-old college student, was arrested Sunday after climbing over a fence and dropping into a dry moat surrounding the monkey exhibit at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo.<\/p>\n
The other man, who was filming the act, identified himself as a 27-year-old singer.<\/p>\n
Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.<\/p>\n
The men did not come close to the animals, and were quickly apprehended by zoo officials, said an official at Ichikawa Police who spoke with AFP on a traditional condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
The two men face charges of forcible obstruction of business, which they refute, the police official said.<\/p>\n
The duo did not have formal identifications with them and initially tried to lie to police about their names, he added.<\/p>\n
The arrests follow a massive surge in domestic and international visitors to the zoo, driven by Punch’s viral fame.<\/p>\n
The baby monkey became an internet star this year after the zoo posted\u00a0photos of Punch clutching an IKEA plush orangutan for comfort after being rejected by his mother.<\/p>\n
Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Punch’s predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch.<\/p>\n
An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, but some residents have become fed up with unruly behaviour.<\/p>\n
Last year, a Ukrainian YouTuber with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after\u00a0livestreaming himself trespassing in a house in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone.<\/p>\n
And a US livestreamer known as Johnny Somali was arrested in 2023 for allegedly trespassing onto a construction site.<\/p>\n
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