Punch the monkey is safe at a Japanese zoo after two American tourists, described locally as possible crypto influencers, jumped into his enclosure in Chiba, near Tokyo, on Monday, according to police and zoo officials. Officers identified the men as a 24-year-old college student, Red Jahnai Daysun, and a 27-year-old self-described singer, Neal Jabahri Duan, both from the United States, and said they were arrested on suspicion of disrupting zoo operations.
Punch the monkey is no ordinary resident of Ichikawa City Zoo. The young Japanese macaque became an online sensation last year after staff revealed he had been rejected by his mother shortly after a difficult birth during a severe heatwave. With no natural guidance and little interest from the rest of the troop, the baby monkey ended up playing alone, clutching a stuffed toy provided by keepers. His lonely attempts at socialising, filmed and shared by the zoo, drew a wave of support from around the world.
