- Two US citizens were referred to prosecutors after allegedly trespassing into a monkey enclosure at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba prefecture on 17 May.
- Reid Jahnai Dayson, 24, and Neal Jabahri Duan, 27, allegedly conspired for one to enter the enclosure in a character costume while the other filmed the stunt for social media.
- The incident took place in the enclosure housing nearly 60 monkeys, including Punch, a macaque that gained viral fame for cuddling an orangutan plushie.
- In response, the zoo widened the buffer zone around the enclosure, installed anti-intrusion netting, and is now considering a full ban on photography near the monkey enclosure.
- Zoo officials said that the intrusion put both animals and staff at risk, prompting measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
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