Wild monkey loose in Japanese subway eludes police
A monkey is on the loose in Shibuya Station.
“It’s a monkey - it’s not like it did anything bad,” a police spokesman said, adding that the animal was still on the loose.Monkey eludes net-wielding police at Tokyo station (via Japan Probe)The monkey was spotted hopping around by the automatic ticket gates at a train line in Shibuya Station in central Tokyo at about 9:40 a.m. .
It then ran downstairs to the entrance to another line, climbed up and down a pillar and ran around the ticketing machines before taking refuge on top of a train information board for two hours, a spokeswoman for railway operator Tokyu Corp said.
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That picture is absolutely adorable.
That monkey is absolutely adorable.
Interesting for the coverage the monkey is getting worldwide but I really can't find the humor in a stressed-out, confused animal.
The press so often reports abandoned whales, deer lost in buildings, cows down a well, a bear with its' head stuck in a container ( to name a few recent items) as being sources for hilarious observations and humorous commentary.
All I see is an exhausted animal in grave danger.
Look a bit deeper into these stories, there is little 'adorable' about them.
Couldn't they just shoot it?
@3 JG:
You're fighting the stream here. Humans have an innate love of charismatic fauna and looking deeper than "ZOMG! A MONKEY! HESSOCUTEIWANNAHUGHIM!" eludes most folks.
Also, it's a monkey owning humans. That's good copy.
From the article, "Television footage showed the 60-cm-tall brown monkey sitting calmly on top of the board, blinking and looking down at the crowd."
where is the video??? We need video!
It seems a very familiar story to me. I read this to my kids not too long ago: http://www.amazon.com/Curious-George-Takes-Train/dp/0618065679
"Ampersand! Get down from there!"
"it’s not like it did anything bad”
Did it pay for a ticket?
"Boy I can't wait to eat that monkey!" -Abe Simpson
Listen, if they want the monkey out of the train station it's easy-- just put some peanuts on or near the third rail. Problem solved.
#5-MG- I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.
JG @3: I really can't find the humor in a stressed-out, confused animal.
Do you mean the monkey or the police?
the little bastards routinely attack people. I wouldn't be hanging around.
@ #6
Pink Tentacle has some cute pictures and a video of the excitement: "あ！さるが逃げました!"
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/08/video-monkey-on-the-loose-in-shibuya-station/
JG,
I've yet to see a story of a whale stranding presented as funny. I don't think the bulk of these stories are presented for yuks. More often they are little mini sagas of emotion. They get reported because they are a cheap and easy way to fill up airtime that does not require real reporting.
Yep, they're mini-tragedies. Just think of Paris Hilton's poor little Tinkerbell. There's a pathetic animal with a pathetic life. Not really much of a tragedy compared to a war zone or starving kids, true, but some much better for ratings and advertisers.
And if the moronic hairsprayed talking heads make light of the trapped deer, remember that they've been doing the same thing about rape victims and activists and everybody else ever since they first sat down in front of the cameras.
#15 I see it regularly on network and local news (I'm a news junky). And these animal stories are often presented as something humorous with a clever lead-in and a jovial tease. BTW I wrote abandoned whales not stranded whales.
Um, that's why I made the statement, I'm speaking from experience here and my own convictions.
While I do appreciate your little lecture in 'real ethics' simply stating that news readers tend to treat other more serious items with a similarly flippant manner in no way lessens my original point.
I don't look to newscasts for insights into the human dilemma or for explanations of man's inhumanity to man, I just find shallow remarks that miss the real situation as offensive and misleading.
And yes they occur in many stories.
Your grasp of the obvious is quite impressive.
#12-Now that is funny!
"it’s not like it did anything bad”
Did it pay for a ticket?
Or is it Brazilian? No, wait...Japanese subway, not London Underground. My bad.
i just saw the report of this on TV... cops with nets chasing a monkey, pursued by a few dozen dudes with phonecams. the only things missing were the clown suits and circus music.
and the best part of all is, the monkey got away in the end.
Oh sure, when it's a monkey all the police run towards it, but when it's Godzilla...
While everyone went bananas over the monkey the monkey made a monkey out of them.
Oh and for real people, this monkey was nowhere near as stressed out as the salary men all chasing after him with their cellphones.
Saw some highlights on TV here in Tokyo.
The problem was stupid fucking women screaming like children, freaking out the already terrified monkey every time it made a move. Waves of massive, synchronized screaming. Or at least that was my impression.
It must have been some pet or something. There are no monkeys anywhere near here.
I've read that monkey sightings are on the rise in Tokyo.
Just a day later, there's monkey commotion in Harajuku: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/08/operation-capture-monkey-in-harajuku/
I think they're mass migrating from Nikko in search of better hot springs. As for the screaming it's hard to believe that people would react that way to a little monkey.
“It’s a monkey - it’s not like it did anything bad,"
Here's hoping it doesn't attack one. Serious injuries could occur.
"As for the screaming it's hard to believe that people would react that way to a little monkey."
Haven't spent much time here, have you?
I can tell you from personal experience -- Japanese high school girls will collapse into screaming fits because a bee has entered the classroom, and then once we've got it out, concentration on the school task is totally lost.
It doesn't take much to induce mass group reaction here, especially women.
Poor monkey, it's probably feeling really scared and confused. I hope it isn't harmed in any way! Stay away from oncoming trains! D: