Darwin The Ikea Monkey Will Stay At Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary

The long court battle over where Darwin should go has finally ended.

According to media reports Friday, ‘the Ikea monkey’ will not be returning to owner Yasmin Nakhuda after her appeal to get him back was dismissed Friday.

Nakhuda, a Toronto lawyer, tried unsuccessfully in an Oshawa court to get Darwin back after he got loose in the parking lot of a North York Ikea in December of 2012.

She appealed the judges decision but that was tossed out.

The Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland now assumes permanent ownership of Darwin.

“Unfortunately, Darwin was imprinted by humans in his early and formative months which rarely bodes well for a monkey,” says sanctuary founder Sherri Delaney in a press release. “When he arrived at the sanctuary, Darwin was very insecure and needed to be the centre of everyone’s attention. He was sheltered from our other monkeys until he got used to his surroundings.”

In an emailed statement, Nakhuda said, “the burden of costs, the delays, the crushing pain of separation and its effect on our life and work and most of all, advice of the unlikelihood of success of our appeal though the ‘wild animal’ defence makes no sense, leaves us with no choice but to let go.”
The statement was signed “Yasmin Nakhuda, Monkey Mom.”

On the Web:

Battle over ownership of Ikea monkey finally over as ‘mom’ gives up appeal
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/battle-over-ownership-of-ikea-monkey-finally-over-as-mom-gives-up-appeal-1.1708634#ixzz2ueJuICgi