A monkey in a winter coat got loose in an IKEA Sunday and scampered straight into the hearts of animal lovers around the Web.
The monkey was spotted outside a Toronto IKEA after it let itself out of the owners car, CBC News reported. The money was eventually cornered inside the store until animal services arrived.
“[Shopper Stephanie] Yim, along with other bystanders, began following the monkey as it skittered across the parking lot. She said that while the monkey didn’t appear to be scared, it cried out at times.”
Photos of the monkey in a shearling coat and diapers have been turned into a meme on Reddit, Craigslist, and Twitter.
“Every fear I have in life can be seen in that sweet monkey’s mournful eyes,” said redditor BrooklynNets on a post featuring the following image of the monkey.
The monkey also inspired a self-aware parody Twitter account, @IKEAmonkey, which has collected more than 2,100 followers in the last day.
“[S]orry to break the fourth wall but things get weirder: ikea monkey is a big topanga fan,” the account tweeted. “[U]pdate III: made friends with a schnoodle, planning a long con to get out of this joint.”
The IKEA monkey follows in a line of famous animals on the loose. In March 2011, a cobra from the Bronx Zoo escaped for five days and inspired a popular Twitter parody account that has more than 199,000 followers. About three months later, a small platoon of turtles shut down the runway at Kennedy International Airport as they searched for place to lay their eggs.
The following images have been posted on three different Reddit threads discussing the monkey.
Images via Reddit