Here's some news you don't hear every day: a monkey was on the loose in Indianapolis and before he was eventually captured by the police, he was reportedly spotted drinking a beer and on the hood of someone's car. He was found in a vacant home that he broke into.
Momo the monkey reportedly has a history of running away from home. According to Fox59, Momo also escaped back in July, 2023, not from a zoo, but from a home that he lives in as a pet, it seems.
On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the owner of the monkey posted in a Facebook group for lost pets. He posted in the same group in July as well. About two hours after he posted in the group, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received reports of a monkey on the loose. Minor injuries were reported but not confirmed.
In the time that he was out exploring the city, he reportedly found a beer in the trash and drank from it, WishTV reported. He also walked up to a woman's car when she got home, according to a Facebook post.
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"I have had the weirdest day…and then I get home and start to get out of my car and a MONKEY walks up to my open car door," she wrote in the post. "It took me a few seconds to figure out what it was so I closed the door and he jumped onto the hood of my car!" She added that police officers then showed up and told her to stay away from the "very aggressive" monkey.
Momo is a patas monkey, which means he's extremely fast, capable of sprinting up to 30 mph. Technically, people are allowed to keep monkeys as pets in the city, but there are some regulations, and Animal Care Services will work with the county’s prosecutor’s office to decide if Momo should be returned to his owner, according to the Associated Press.
Momo was eventually captured on Thursday morning, according to IMPD. While in the vacant home that he had broken into, Momo made his way into the bathroom where he was cornered and caught by the owner's brother.
"Momo the monkey has been captured safely. That was more than enough monkey business for us," the police department wrote on Twitter/X. Fox59 reported that the monkeys owner didn't want to speak about the monkey's adventure in the city.
The owner of the monkey received a citation due to the monkey's behavior, which was described as "chasing and approaching in an unsafe fashion,” AP reported.
Clearly, Momo got into some trouble while he was out, but who can really blame him? Eileen Dallaire, executive director of the Primate Rescue Center, told the Indy Star that monkeys want to be around other monkeys, so they don't make good pets. Some of them can be aggressive, especially if they're scared, Dallaire said.
“The overall lesson is that primates do not belong in private homes," Dallaire told the outlet, adding that these animals can be dangerous to the community because they are trying to "protect themselves and survive" when scared.
