Marlon Brown, 22, from Lambeth appeared at Kingston magistrate's court on Thursday charged with the theft of SpongeBob the squirrel monkey from Chessington Zoo.
Wearing a hooded jacket, jeans and a black baseball cap, Mr Brown pleaded not guilty to stealing the Bolivian monkey, worth over £2,500.
Despite being eligible to be tried in the magistrate's court, Mr Brown chose to have the case heard in the Crown Court.
After going missing July 16, SpongeBob was found by children playing on a Clapham estate.
He was returned to Chessington but moved to a new home in Battersea zoo after fighting with the female monkeys in his old enclosure.
His role as breeding male in Chessington has been taken over by a new monkey called Van Gogh.
The cheeky monkey keeps a web blog, entitled SpongeBlog, to chart his progress.
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