Punch-kun, or Punch, a seven-month-old baby macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, has become an unlikely star after he found comfort in an orange orangutan toy. It all started after videos of Punch getting strangled and dragged around by an adult monkey surfaced online.
The zookeepers, at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Gardens, on Friday, Feb. 20, released a statement on X. It said that Punch had initially approached another baby monkey from the troop to communicate, but the baby monkey avoided him.
"Punch then sat down, apparently giving up on communicating with the monkey, after which he was scolded and dragged by an adult monkey," read the statement.
The zookeepers added that Punch was "probably the mother of the monkey with whom Punch tried to communicate."
"She probably felt that her baby was annoyed by Punch and got upset, expressing 'don't be mean,' the statement added.
On social media, several videos and photographs showed Punch gripping the plush toy while he sleeps and even tried to shield himself with it when other monkeys pushed him away.
In its response, the zoo stated that Punch ran towards the stuffed orangutan toy after getting dragged by others. However, he later left the toy after a while and started communicating with other monkeys.
Further, it claimed that Punch has been scolded by other monkeys "many times in the past and has learned how to socialise with them". But it added that no single monkey has shown "serious aggression toward him".
"While Punch is scolded, he shows resilience and mental strength," it added.
Punch was born in July last year at the zoo, located nearly 20 miles outside Tokyo. It was abandoned by his mother, most likely due to difficult labor during a heat wave, The New York Times quoted the zookeepers as saying. It was later nursed by the staff members.
In January, Punch got reintroduced to the trot at the monkey enclosure, called Monkey Mountain. Without a mother, it faced a difficult time integrating.
For infant monkeys, clinging to their mothers is considered essential, since they remain dependent on that physical contact for warmth and safety. After being deprived of maternal bonding, Punch was provided round-the-clock human care from the zoo staff.
Takashi Yasunaga, who leads the Ichikawa municipal government's zoo and botanical gardens division, told The New York Times that Punch had been wary of others, but he is gradually acclimating. His mother is with others at Monkey Mountain and was four years old when she gave birth to Punch.
Punch has “an active and fearless personality” and will “proactively try to communicate with other monkeys,” Yasunaga added.
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