The Canton Monkey is always moving but never touches the ground. Wearing a slight milk moustache, he clambers up a drainpipe and perches on a first-floor windowsill before hurtling back down. He leaps from the front of the house and onto his owner's shoulder, then zips from car roof to door handle.
A woman in her 60s is walking along the pavement when she stops suddenly at the sight of the Amazonian squirrel monkey, whose name is Koko. Beaming, she says: "Isn't he lovely?" The owner Osman Roap mentions that Koko might show his affection by jumping on her, which prompts the passer-by to give a wider berth, but her smile remains.
Koko has been putting smiles on faces in Canton for years. The west Cardiff neighbourhood lacks rainforest treetops but on the morning we spend with Koko he could hardly seem happier as he roams a landscape of curtain rails and cupboards.
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Canton Monkey sightings have become the stuff of urban legend on social media, particularly Cardiff Twitter. At one point Osman's home was labelled on Google Maps as 'The Monkey House'.
As we enter the house Koko flits around the living room, sometimes spending a second or two on this reporter's shoulder, and Osman tells the story of the Canton Monkey — from the primate's "man-cave" to his hatred of Shrek, and why he will soon be leaving Canton.
Osman, the 29-year-old owner of Nishirath takeaway near Victoria Park, says Koko is loving but mischievous. He has a tendency to steal Osman's cash and the mint capsules from his cigarettes. "Sometimes when he nicks something he runs with it on two legs and he looks like a T-rex," says Osman. "It's the funniest thing."
Koko sips from a bowl of milk, which he insists on being full-fat. "He knows when we're being cheap," laughs Osman. The three-year-old monkey looks about a foot tall. He has darting black eyes and gives an impression of extreme alertness, his head rapidly twitching from side to side. Mostly he is greyish-brown but his forearms are a beautiful burst of amber and the end of his tail looks as if it has been dipped in a pot of black paint. His hands are almost human-like, with tiny dark fingernails.
"I didn't want a cat because I thought it would be a bit boring," says Osman, who bought Koko in 2019 for a little under £10,000. He had spent a year trying to find a monkey on various pet websites which proved to be full of fake listings, but eventually he made a deal with a breeder in Wales.
"I had him about three or four months after birth. He was in the cage for a day but within three days he was stuck to me. He started sticking himself to my leg as I walked around. I'm pretty much with him 24 hours a day, even at work. He's never in the cage.
"He was about the size of a tennis ball when I got him. I live with my mum but I didn't tell her for a week and she didn't notice him at first, because he was so small and quiet. I can't remember her reaction but she was probably quite confused. They have a bit of a love-hate relationship. She loves him but he makes a mess and she chases him around like no tomorrow."
Osman's father Abdur died in 2019 after having kidney problems. In the final months of his life Koko was a huge comfort to Abdur. "My dad was an animal lover," says Osman. "He would just sit and watch Koko for hours."
The warmth of the bond between Osman and Koko is clear. A couple of times the monkey pokes his head forward and quickly gives Osman a kiss. "He eats off my plate, he drinks my drinks, he sleeps in bed by curling into a ball by my arm," says Osman. "He is worse than me at getting out of bed.
"Koko is hard work but getting him is the best thing I've ever done. I used to be very social and out all the time, then the pandemic came along and I wasn't going out as much. He kept me busy and happy. I couldn't go a day without him."
Balancing on a curtain rail, Koko makes a series of attempts over 20 minutes to push a huge roll of bubble wrap off the top of a fridge. Eventually he succeeds. Shortly afterwards he leaps nearly two metres from the living room doorframe onto my shoulder. Osman says Koko has been particularly energetic in recent months because he is going through puberty, though he is not expected to grow much more.
"He has been getting a bit more naughty," Osman adds. "Whatever he can fit in his hand he will take, which is surprisingly quite a lot. He loves money but he only takes £20 and £50 notes because he knows I won't chase him for a fiver and if he's not the centre of attention he gets a bit angry."
Osman used to buy cigarettes with mint-flavoured capsules, but they proved irresistible to Koko. "He loves them, but not to smoke. He'd break them up, take the capsules out and chew on them. He's pretty damn clever."
Sometimes Koko's tail coils around his neck, at others he swishes it from side to side. "His tail is his cleaning towel for drying out his food," Osman explains. "He doesn't like any grease.
"Koko loves pasta and rice. He likes chewing on a chicken bone, walking round like one of the Flintstones. Ribena too, but I have to get him the zero sugar one. A little teaspoon of sugar would turn him into a psycho."
Although he can be naughty at times, Koko is playful rather than malicious. He does not bite people, bar a couple of "nibbles" at Osman in the early months. The monkey enjoys interacting with people and on some mornings will position himself on the living room window where children walking to school can see him.
Osman says: "He will do a little squeal to alert everyone, 'I'm up here.' Sometimes when I'm cleaning the car and he's plodding along on the car roof, all the kids in the street will run up and try to get him to jump on them. They go nuts when he does."
Is Osman aware of the passionate social media discussion of the Canton Monkey? "I didn't have a clue but funnily enough in the last two or three days that's all I've been hearing. People have walked past and said, 'I've heard about the Canton Monkey.' I was baffled.
"There was also an incident with Google Maps. My friend was getting an Uber here to visit me and he told me, 'Someone has labelled your house as The Monkey House.' I didn't want a million people stampeding here so I asked Google to remove it."
Despite Osman often letting him outside, Koko has never tried to get away. "I take him pretty much everywhere with me," Osman adds. "I take him to Victoria Park, the other day we went to Tenby beach, which he found very calm. He likes to bask in the sun."
Nishirath Kitchen has been in Osman's family for 30 years. He runs the business and his uncle cooks. And behind the takeaway Osman has made a "man-cave" for Koko and himself, including a pool table and a big TV with surround sound.
"He's not interested in watching nature stuff but he'll watch a film," says Osman. "He really doesn't like Shrek or The Mask — anything green. When Shrek is on he will jump on the TV and start headbutting it. But he loves cartoons, things like The Incredibles."
The Canton Monkey will soon become the Caerau Monkey. Keen to get a few more unusual pets, Osman is close to finalising a purchase on a Caerau property with a garden big enough to accommodate chickens, quail and an alpaca, as well as giving Koko more space to roam.
"When we move it worries me that people in Canton won't be able to see him anymore," says Osman, but he is hopeful that his new neighbours will appreciate Koko as much. And Osman has been in touch with a breeder who may be able to provide Koko with a monkey companion later this year.
With a laugh Osman says: "I don't want him to die a virgin. I plan to give him a girlfriend. I will probably call her Jojo."
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