Two American nationals were arrested in Ichikawa City, Japan, after one climbed over a fence into the enclosure of Punch, a young macaque at the city zoo, while the other filmed outside the enclosure on Sunday morning, May 17, around 10:50 a.m. local time [1, 2, 3, 4].
The younger man, a 24-year-old college student, entered the enclosure dressed in a character costume. The other man, reportedly a 27-year-old self-described singer, filmed the act from outside the fence [5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 4].
No animals were injured during the incident, and the men did not get physically close to the monkeys [5, 7, 4]. The zoo’s viral macaque named Punch, born in July 2025, is a nine-month-old baby macaque known for gaining attention after hugging a stuffed orangutan toy following abandonment by his mother [5, 1, 3, 7, 4].
Police arrested both men on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business connected to the zoo’s operations [5, 1, 2, 3, 7, 4]. One of the arrested men denied the allegations, stating, "I did not enter the fenced area, so this arrest is not justified," while the other has not cooperated with authorities [5, 7, 4].
The zoo responded by expanding the viewing buffer zone, installing anti-intrusion nets, and temporarily restricting filming requests near the enclosure [5, 1, 2, 3, 4]. Takashi Yasunaga, head of Ichikawa’s zoological and botanical garden division, said, "The act endangered both the animals’ health and the safety of zookeepers," and added, "We want to take various measures to ensure something like this never happens again" [1, 3].
Ichikawa City Zoo posted on X, "Around 10:50 today, there was an intruder in Saruyama. We are informing you that the two individuals, including the intruder in question, have been handed over to the police" [4].
The zoo has continued operations with enhanced safety precautions following the incident [4]. On May 19, the zoo announced it is considering a full ban on rehearsal and filming near the monkey’s enclosure as it implements new security measures to prevent further intrusions [1, 2, 3, 4].
