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Two American nationals were arrested in Japan on Sunday after one of them climbed into the monkey enclosure at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, police said Monday.
The man who entered the enclosure identified himself as a 24-year-old college student. He scaled a fence and dropped into a dry moat surrounding the monkey exhibit.
A second man, who identified himself as a 27-year-old singer, filmed the act from outside. Neither man carried formal identification and both initially gave police false names, according to an Ichikawa Police official who spoke with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on condition of anonymity.
Social media footage showed a person climbing the fence in a costume featuring a smiley face with sunglasses, causing the monkeys to scatter. The men did not approach the animals and were quickly detained by zoo staff.
Both face charges of forcible obstruction of business, which they deny.
The zoo has seen a sharp increase in domestic and international visitors following the rise to fame of Punch, a baby Japanese macaque born in July 2024.
The zoo posted photos of Punch clutching an IKEA plush orangutan toy for comfort after being rejected by his mother, and the images spread rapidly across social media platforms, including X and TikTok.
Punch was raised by zookeepers in an artificial environment after birth. Staff provided blankets, towels and a large plush orangutan toy as a surrogate companion, and began training him to rejoin his troop earlier this year.
Video footage of Punch interacting with his toy and attempting to engage with other juvenile macaques drew global attention, with the hashtag #HangInTherePunch trending internationally.
The viral attention also had commercial effects: the specific IKEA plush toy carried by Punch saw surges in demand and temporarily sold out in several countries.
Zoo staff have urged visitors to exercise patience and avoid behavior that could stress the animals.
While footage circulating online appeared to show Punch being excluded or lightly disciplined by older macaques, zoo staff clarified that such interactions are standard within macaque social hierarchies and serve to teach younger animals boundaries and survival skills.
Recent footage shows Punch gradually engaging in social exchanges with other juveniles, including grooming interactions, indicating progress in his integration into the group.
Experts note that removing him from the troop could impede the development of species-specific behaviors critical to long-term survival.
His being male may also work in his favor over time, as male Japanese macaques typically leave their birth troop to join new groups.
The arrests are the latest in a series of incidents involving foreign tourists engaging in disruptive or illegal behavior in Japan, a country currently experiencing record levels of international tourism.
Last year, a Ukrainian content creator with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after livestreaming a trespass inside a residence in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone.
In 2023, a U.S. livestreamer known as Johnny Somali was arrested for trespassing on a construction site.
Japanese residents in several tourist-heavy areas have raised concerns about unruly behavior by visitors amid the sustained surge in foreign arrivals.
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