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In broad daylight, in full view of a crowd

On a bright, sunny Sunday noon, many visitors had gathered at the monkey hill in Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Chiba Prefecture, hoping to catch a glimpse of the popular baby monkey “Punch-kun.” In addition to families with children, many foreign tourists had also come.

Then suddenly, a person wearing a blue costume and a cartoon-style headpiece climbed over the fence and jumped several meters down into the monkey hill enclosure.

“Whoa, seriously!?” “My God!”

Screams rose from the spectators.

Upon landing, the impact caused the headpiece to come off, revealing his face and identifying him as a foreign man. However, the man put the costume head back on. He then approached the monkeys holding a stuffed toy he had thrown into the enclosure earlier. The monkeys, startled by the intruder, panicked and ran around before fleeing to the top of the monkey hill.

With the monkeys having escaped, the man wandered around aimlessly and placed the stuffed toy in a corner of the enclosure. Perhaps he had entered in order to give it to Punch-kun. A keeper then arrived, and the man was taken away without resistance. The entire incident lasted less than two minutes.

On May 18, the Ichikawa Police Station in Chiba Prefecture announced the emergency arrest of two men on suspicion of obstruction of business by force: Reid Junai Dyson (24), who claims to be a university student, and Neil Jabari Duane (27), who claims to be a singer.

“On May 17 around 10:50 a.m., the two self-proclaimed U.S. nationals allegedly climbed over the fence of the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden, entered the monkey hill, and disrupted the facility’s operations, forcing the cancellation of an event. At around 11:00 a.m., the zoo reported to police that a foreign man jumped into the monkey hill, and officers rushed to the scene. It appears that Dyson entered the monkey enclosure in a costume while Duane filmed the incident.

During questioning, both have denied the allegations, with Dyson reportedly saying, ‘I don’t want to answer and I don’t accept the arrest,’ and Duane saying, ‘I did not enter the fenced area.’” (National newspaper social affairs reporter)

Difficulties faced by the zoo in dealing with regulations

In response to this incident, the zoo expanded the viewing restricted zone around the monkey hill by 1 meter. It also installed additional nets to prevent intrusions.

“A zoo is a facility for people to enjoy, and for that purpose it is essential that the animals are healthy and that the keepers are able to perform their duties properly. We are extremely troubled by actions that threatened the animals’ health and the safety of the staff. We will consider various measures so that something like this never happens again,” said Takashi Yasunaga, head of the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden Division.

In February this year, the zoo posted on social media images of Punch-kun, an orangutan who carries around a stuffed orangutan surrogate mother (nicknamed “Oran-mama”), and it went viral, making the animal extremely popular. In March, visitor numbers rose to nearly 90,000—almost four times the previous year—and in April, they reached 65,000, about three times higher.

Although Punch-kun gradually became accustomed to the group and was rarely seen carrying Oran-mama anymore, large crowds continued to visit the monkey hill even into May. Punch-kun has also become popular overseas, attracting many foreign tourists. Issues related to overtourism were also emerging.

“Some visitors do not follow the rules. When viewing the monkey hill from the front row, visitors are asked to stay for no more than 10 minutes and to crouch so that people behind can also see, but some do not comply, leading to trouble. There have also been groups that shouted loudly and startled the monkeys.

Japanese macaques become stressed by loud noises and prolonged staring by humans. In some cases, stress in one individual can spread to the entire troop. The zoo had already implemented various measures such as setting up restricted viewing zones and using placards with manners slogans collected via social media, but they likely never anticipated someone would actually break into the monkey enclosure,” said a writer who has previously covered Punch-kun.

The costume worn by Dyson appears to be a character used to promote a meme coin cryptocurrency. On his Instagram, photos posted the day before the incident show someone believed to be him posing in this character costume at Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing.

Since this image was also posted on the official X account of the meme coin, Dyson is believed to be connected to the project. Although the post has since been deleted, an AI-generated image—apparently showing the character giving a stuffed toy to monkeys—was also reportedly posted.

Dyson’s actions have been reported overseas as well and have drawn condemnation from around the world. Given that the prank was forced upon zoo visitors and staff, such backlash is hardly surprising.