Darwin gets a chance

By now, few people are unaware of the little primate called "The Ikea Monkey" and his appearance at a Toronto Ikea store in a faux fur shearling coat.  The ignorant POS owner, Yasmin Nakhuda is whining about this poor creature being taken from her, claiming he needs his "mother".

Look, you stupid BITCH - you stole this baby from his mother at SIX weeks of age - not only depriving him of maternal caregiving including proper nutrition, but even worse, depriving him of the opportunity to bond with and learn from his own species.  You brought him into your home and proceeded to treat him like a wind-up toy, dressing him up like a doll, taking videos that you apparently thought were "adorable" but were in fact a form of animal abuse and then bring him out in a Canadian winter and leave in him in your damn CAR.

Primate Info Net says:

Rhesus macaques live in large, multi-male/multi-female groups that have an average of 10 to 80 individuals, regardless of habitat type.

And he, poor wee thing, relegated to a solitary existence.  Further, Rhesus groups are matriarchal in nature. Poor Darwin was taken from his mother at SIX WEEKS - note the "natural" progression of an infant monkey.

While the majority of parental care is the responsibility of the mother, rhesus infants are also handled by close female relatives and protected by adult males. In the first few days, the infant is carried ventrally and protected from other group members by the mother. Ventral clinging is the position most frequently adopted during travel for the first four months of life, but rhesus infants begin to ride dorsally for short periods during the second week (Lindburg 1971). By six weeks of age, locomotor skills are developed enough for the infant to move independently, but they do not move very quickly at this age, and if the mother is traveling too quickly, she will pick up the infant and carry it (Lindburg 1971). Some young rhesus are carried until they reach one year of age, though it is rare. During early infancy, rhesus macaques nurse exclusively for the first two weeks of life, after which they begin to experiment with solid food. At about four months of age, rhesus mothers begin to resist the attempts of their offspring to nurse, and young rhesus macaques are fully weaned by the birth of their next sibling (Fooden 2000). 

By stealing this little monkey from his mother (and is ANYONE following up on where she got him?  Have Montreal authorities been contacted to ascertain what SOB is selling baby monkeys?), she changed the course of his future - and in so doing has potentially prevented him from ever developing a healthy, natural lifestyle suited to his species.  From whom would he learn proper etiquette? From whom would he learn the facial expressions common to a healthy, functioning tribe?  And how would he learn his own intricate language?

This trend to own exotic animals without any forethought or care about whether the environment is a healthy one for them must be stopped.

Money does not trump the rights of the other species with whom we share this world.

The rush to have the latest "thing", the trendiest "pet" is obscene and the individuals who perpetuate the abuse and objectification of living creatures must be brought to task. A paltry $240 fine is hardly going to dissuade those who seek the limelight from purchasing another poor hapless creature.

Elephants living in misery in our zoos.

Intelligent, beautiful sea creatures - whales and seals - living in horrific conditions to put money in the coffers of an owner without a conscience.

Baby polar bears dying for the second year in a row due to an unnatural environment and a stressed, unhappy mother.

and individuals who believe cash trumps compassion.

Such a sad world for those with whom we share this earth.

Thank god for people like those at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary - who have taken in this little baby and are giving him a chance to be who he was meant to be. They are even hoping to provide him with a surrogate mother - someone who will nurture and understand him as only a mother could.

However, it is VERY expensive to feed and nurture and take care of primates - so in this Season of Giving, please see if you can give a little to Darwin's new life http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/294104. Every little bit helps