Two Americans were Arrested After They Broke into an Enclosure of an Internet Favourite Monkey Punch

The Ichikawa Police Department has arrested two US nationals after they broke into the enclosure of the internet-famous monkey Punch. The two men jumped into the internet-famous monkey’s enclosure in a Japanese zoo while the others filmed the stunt, according to the authorities.

The Ichikawa Police Department have arrested two U.S. nationals on May 17th from the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden near Tokyo. The authorities have identified the two individuals as stunt influencers in their 20s. The authorities said that one of the two jumped the fence while the other filmed the stunt, according to the reports filed by People.

A video of the incident posted on X shows a person in a blue suit with a stuffed emoji head climbing into and around the enclosure. That emoji is usually used to promote Memecoin cryptocurrencies. The intruder was reportedly seen with a stuffed toy. Both individuals were arrested and charged with obstructing zoo operations, according to local media reports.

One of the men who claimed to be a 24-year-old college student is being accused of scaling a fence to gain access to Punch’s enclosure. The other man claimed to be a 27-year-old singer. However, both have denied all the allegations against them. The police have said that no monkeys were injured during the incident.

The Ichikawa City Zoo, in a statement on May 18th, filed a damage report with the police and began implementing countermeasures to prevent future incidents. The measures included expanding the enclosure’s restricted-view area and installing prevention nets, according to the authorities' statement.

The zoo officials also added that they were considering a full ban on filming around the monkey enclosure and were temporarily putting requests from YouTubers to film there on hold.

The man who jumped into the enclosure did not approach the animals and was quickly apprehended by zoo workers, an Ichikawa Police official said, according to AFP reports.

Punch is the name given to a nine-month-old Japanese macaque currently living at the Ichikawa city zoo in Japan. Clips of Punch have attracted millions of views online earlier this year, after Punch was spotted hugging a stuffed toy orangutan given to it by the zookeepers after it was rejected by its mother and shunned by the other monkeys in its troop.

Punch was seen carrying the stuffed toy everywhere, and the internet loved it. Hence, the story of Punch, which is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, has gained global attention.