An Ontario judge is set to rule today on where the Darwin the Ikea monkey will live while a trial takes place to decide who should take care of him permanently.  The monkey made international headlines in December, after he was found in the parking lot of the Toronto Ikea wearing a miniature fake shearling coat and diaper.  Darwin was then sent to a sanctuary in Sunderland, northeast of Toronto.  Until the Ikea incident, the monkey had been living with Yasmin Nakhuda.  The Toronto women wants him returned, saying a long separation will damage her bond with Darwin.

Julie Woodyear is with “Zoocheck” and suspects the judge will want the monkey to stay where he is, at least for now.  “I think the evidence weighs heavily in favour of Darwin staying at the sanctuary.  It’s obvious that he’s receiving appropriate and good care there in compliance with provincial standards.  And the evidence shows that she is probably not in compliance with those standards.  In my opinion he’ll stay where he is for now, and then we’ll see what happens during trial.”

Court in Oshawa heard yesterday that Nakhuda wrote in an email that she was “unfit” to care for the primate, calling him a “time bomb” because she couldn’t stop him from biting.
Nakhuda’s lawyer suggests his client was despondent over criticism from the trainer and didn’t really mean what she said.