Two US nationals have been arrested after one jumped into the enclosure of an internet-famous monkey at a Japanese zoo while the other filmed the stunt, police have said.
One of the men, who claimed to be a 24-year-old college student, is accused of scaling a fence to gain access to Punch's enclosure on Sunday morning. The other man claimed to be a 27-year-old singer.
Both have denied the allegations. Police have stated that no monkeys were injured during the incident.
Clips of the now nine-month-old macaque attracted millions of views online earlier this year after it was spotted hugging a stuffed toy orangutan given to him by keepers at Ichikawa City Zoo after he was rejected by his mother.
Footage purportedly of Sunday's incident, filmed by other zoo-goers and shared on social media, shows a person wearing a costume and carrying a stuffed toy jumping over a fence and into the monkey enclosure. The person can be seen being led out by a zookeeper.
The two men are being held on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business, according to local media. Ichikawa City Zoo stated that it had filed a damage report with the police and is implementing countermeasures to prevent future incidents.
The zoo plans to expand its viewing restrictions and install intrusion prevention nets, and is considering a full ban on filming around the monkey enclosure.
Since Punch moved to the shared enclosure in January, the zoo has regularly shared updates on his behavior, showing him integrating with other macaques after initially struggling to bond due to being abandoned by his mother.
There have been previous incidents of people trespassing into zoo enclosures after becoming enamored with viral animal stars; a recent case involved a man fined for breaking into the enclosure of a baby pygmy hippo in Thailand.
