2 Americans arrested in Japan for climbing into viral baby monkey Punch’s zoo enclosure

Two American nationals were arrested Sunday in Japan after one of them entered the monkey enclosure at a zoo where a baby macaque named Punch became a global internet sensation earlier this year, police said Monday.

In a statement shared with CBS News’ Japanese partner network TBS News, the Ichikawa Police Department identified the suspects as 24-year-old Reid Jahnai Dayson, who they said was a university student, and Neal Jabahri Duan, 27, who told the police he was a singer.

Dayson reportedly climbed over a fence and dropped into a dry moat surrounding the monkey exhibit at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo. Duan allegedly filmed him.

Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.

The men did not come close to the animals and were quickly apprehended by zoo officials, an official with the Ichikawa Police told the French news agency AFP.

The two men face charges of forcible obstruction of business, which they refute, the police official said.

The duo did not have formal identification with them and initially tried to lie to police about their names, the official told AFP.

#HangInTherePunch

The arrests come after the zoo saw a surge in domestic and international visitors driven by Punch’s viral fame. The baby monkey became an internet star earlier this year after the zoo posted photos of him clutching an IKEA plush orangutan for comfort after being rejected by his mother.

Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and he began training to rejoin his troop earlier this year. His predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch.

An unprecedented number of tourists have flocked to Japan in recent years, but some residents have become fed up by foreigners’ unruly behavior.

Last year, a Ukrainian YouTuber with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after livestreaming himself trespassing in a house in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone, and an American content creator known as Johnny Somali was arrested in 2023 for allegedly trespassing in a construction site.