Vile American tourist dresses up as EMOJI to climb into Punch the monkey’s enclosure and terrorize primates at Japanese zoo

Shocking footage has been recorded of the moment an American tourist wearing an emoji costume jumped into a monkey sanctuary and caused chaos among the animals.

The incident occurred Sunday at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Ichikawa, Japan, where a baby macaque monkey named Punch became an internet sensation earlier this year.

Japanese authorities stated that two Americans were arrested for the demonstration, 24-year-old Reid Jahnai Dayson and 27-year-old Neal Jabari Duan.

Dayson climbed over a fence and fell into the monkey exhibit, while Duan allegedly filmed his antics, according to Japanese broadcaster TBS News.

Allegedly, video of the moment shows Dayson wearing a full Emoji costume and his head bouncing into the enclosed area as the monkeys scramble for safety.

Astonished witnesses shouted at him as he walked around the exhibit, until a zoo employee appeared and escorted him away.

The man appeared to film the incident as some sort of stunt as he waved to the crowd, but the monkey did not interact with Punch before he was captured.

An Ichikawa Police official said Dayson and Duan faced charges of forcible obstruction of work, but the allegations were rejected in court.

The incident occurred Sunday at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Ichikawa, Japan; Here Monkey Punch became a viral sensation due to his connection to a stuffed orangutan stuffed animal (seen in February)

Authorities said the two men initially lied to police about their names when they were arrested and did not have official identification, according to AFP.

In response to the viral stunt, Ichikawa Zoo said in an X post that it was restricting access to Punch the monkey’s enclosure while it investigated the incident.

The zoo said it had installed ‘anti-intrusion networks’ around the exhibit and would place extra patrols around the monkeys to keep them safe.

Visitors to the zoo will also be banned from filming at the exhibit, and the zoo said it would ban any suggestions from YouTubers to record Punch and his monkey friends ‘for now’.

The zoo added that ‘no abnormalities’ were observed in any of the monkeys following Sunday’s demonstration.

The arrest of the two Americans came as Ichikawa Zoo was flooded with visitors in the wake of Punch’s viral fame.

In the footage, the man can be seen jumping into the enclosure and scaring away the monkeys before a zoo employee escorts him out of the exhibit.

The monkeys in the exhibit quickly ran away from the intruder and stayed on a rock to avoid him

Japanese authorities said two Americans were arrested for the demonstration, identified as 24-year-old Reid Jahnai Dayson, who allegedly jumped into the confined space, and 27-year-old Neal Jabari Duan, who filmed it.

The monkey became an internet sensation earlier this year when millions watched videos of the macaque holding a stuffed orangutan animal for comfort.

The orphan monkey was raised in captivity and was initially rejected by other monkeys in the enclosure; This sparked global fascination with the animal as its antics went viral on social media.

The zoo said this had helped Punch’s integration, and last month fans were delighted to see the monkey finally being accepted by his peers.