A monkey named Momo is “on the loose” in Indianapolis after escaping home

Indianapolis officials are pursuing a rogue monkey named Momo in the city’s east side after the animal escaped its home.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has urged people to avoid approaching the monkey. It’s not clear what type of monkey it is. 

According to CBS News affiliate WTTV, police were first called about the primate on Wednesday evening. The department received calls “about a monkey that had escaped a residence” around 6:38 p.m. local time, according to CBS4. A man who appears to be Momo’s owner wrote in a Facebook lost-and-found pets group that the monkey had escaped through a fence about two hours earlier. 

“IMPD is assisting (Indianapolis Animal Control Services) with a monkey on the loose near 500 Ironridge Ct,” the department wrote in a statement shared on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “There are reports of minor injuries from the monkey but we can’t confirm it is from bites.” 

A photo accompanying the post shows Momo standing on a sidewalk in a grassy lawn.

In an update posted about two hours later, police said that Momo had been spotted again. 

Bonnie Wright, an area resident, told WTTV that she had a tense encounter with the monkey on Wednesday night. 

“It ran up at my garage, pinned me against the door, and I had to take a stool and put it between me and the monkey to kind of dodge the monkey away until I got into the house,” Wright said. 

The police department told WTTV on Thursday that there had been a third sighting of the monkey. The primate was seen running down the street, according to the station, and was startled by a barking dog. The monkey then jumped into some trees and was pursued by officers, including one with a large net. 

A transport van from the animal care services agency was also present, WTTV reported. Momo’s owner was also trying to coax the monkey down. 

This isn’t Momo’s first escape: His owner posted in the same animal group in July that the primate had gotten loose in the early hours in the morning on July 10.