Here are the most famous animals in recent Toronto history.
IKEA Monkey
Darwin, the famed IKEA monkey, garnered International acclaim for his antics at the North York division of the Swedish furniture chain. Dressed in a dapper little coat, the monkey darted around the parking lot before being captured by security guards. What have we learned from this primate? Shearling coats look good on just about anyone.
This majestic bird became famous after freeing itself from the High Park Zoo in May 2015. Instead of seeking refuge in the park, it decided to take a walk on the wild side and paraded around the streets of Roncy for a few days. Though Animal Control tried diligently to recapture the bird, he evaded their grasp by spending most of his time rooftopping but returned home on his own a few days later.
Donut-Stealing Raccoon
Everyone loves a good donut now and again, and it turns out Toronto raccoons aren't much different. While people don't usually cook up elaborate schemes to get their hands on a honey crueller, this little guy did. In December 2015, he was caught on camera climbing out from a ceiling tile and snatching a glazed confection from the top shelf at Tim Horton's.
The White Squirrel of Trinity Bellwoods is one of our city's most beloved mascots, even inspiring the name of a local cafe. Though we thought we saw the end of albino squirrel sightings in 2014, it turns out that there are several scurrying around the park as they have been spotted several times since.
If you need any proof that Toronto's citizens are a sympathetic bunch, this is it. In July of 2015 a dead raccoon was discovered in the Yonge and Davenport area. Now what does one do in such a situation? Mourn, obviously. Flowers were laid, a roadside shrine was erected and soon after the fallen soldier was immortalized as a butter sculpture at the CNE (as if the story needed to get any weirder).
Baby Pandas
The city was blessed with some precious new additions at the end of 2015 when twin baby pandas were born at the Toronto Zoo. While they have yet to get up to antics like pastry theft, the duo takes the cake for most adorable critters on this list.
Rooftopping has long history in the city - but normally it's instagrammers instead of animals that you'll find scaling Toronto's sky high structures. This brave little ball of fur was discovered 700 feet up by a crane operator in Spring 2015.
Albino Opossums
The Toronto Zoo's pint-sized pandas may be cute, but they aren't the only newborn creatures we've fawned over in the past few years. In 2011, a trio of albino opossums (which we mistakenly identified as raccoons, our bad) were born in the Victoria Park and Finch area. The video footage of the little guys tugged on the heart strings of every animal-lover in the city.
In July 2014 a caiman was spotted in a High Park pond where it certainly did not belong. "What on earth is a caiman?" you ask. It's a alligator-like reptile that has no business lurking around Toronto's west side. Luckily, authorities were able to snatch it up before it gave the park's duck population the fright of their lives.
TTC Pigeon
This seasoned commuter impressed a subway car filled with Toronto travellers when it rode the train like a pro, even knowing when to exit the car. It didn't even adopt any of the annoying habits that some TTC frequenters have, so kudos to you, pigeon.
What did I miss? Add more videos of Toronto's weirdest animals to the comments.
Photos by Jeremy Gilbert, Aaron Forster, dzd_lisa, skyjacked793 and lucasimages.ca.
by Alice Prendergast via blogTO
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