Two U.S. nationals were each fined 300,000 yen on Friday for trespassing at the enclosure of Punch, a Japanese macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture.
The Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office said the men were summarily indicted for obstructing the zoo's business. They paid the fines without a formal trial. The incident occurred on May 17 when police arrested the pair. One man climbed the fence into the monkey habitat while wearing a character costume. The other recorded the act on a smartphone from outside. Punch was born in July and abandoned by his mother. Zookeepers gave him an orangutan plushie as a substitute, and social media updates about the macaque attracted many visitors to the zoo.
