Monkey spotted at Shibuya station

A wild monkey was spotted inside Shibuya station this morning, but police failed to capture the beast:

“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.

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.

The police attempts to capture the monkey with nets can be seen in the news report videos below.

FTV’s coverage:

ATVs coverage:

NTV’s coverage (via Pink Tentacle):

Footage from somebody’s camera (via Q-Taro)

The monkey proved to be very fast, and eventually made his escape by climbing up on the the Yamanote Line tracks and bolting out of sight. According to an expert interviewed by FTV, the monkey appeared to be about 7 years-old and is likely to have originated in the Okutama area. Some believe that the monkey seen in Shibuya today may have been the same monkey sighted earlier this month in Koganei and Setagaya-ku.

[hat tip to Mark]