Punch the monkey, six months old, was abandoned by his mother and cared for with stuffed animals, setting the stage for a story about the young primate's development and adaptation.
Punch, a six-month-old macaque at the Ichikawa City Zoo in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, is becoming a social media sensation. Last week, a video showing Punch being bullied by other macaques and clinging to a stuffed animal as a "substitute mother" after being abandoned by her biological mother, garnered significant public attention.
After watching the video, many people questioned why the mother monkey abandoned Punch. Regarding this incident, primate expert Alison Behie from the Australian National University stated that abandoning one's offspring is unusual but does occur under certain circumstances related to "age, health, and experience."
According to expert Alison, in Punch's case, the mother monkey was giving birth for the first time and therefore lacked experience.
"The caregivers also said that Punch was born during a heatwave, a stressor in the living environment. In an environment where survival is threatened by external stressors, the mother monkey may prioritize her own health and future reproductive capacity over continuing to care for her newborn, whose health could be compromised in this environment," expert Alison explained.
After being abandoned by her mother, zoo staff gave Punch the orangutan a stuffed orangutan. Prior to this, they had tried various alternative methods to help Punch cope with her longing for her mother, including rolling up towels for her to cling to.
"We thought that using an item shaped like a monkey might help Punch reintegrate with the troop more easily," said zoo employee Kosuke Shikano.
Expert Alison suggests that the stuffed orangutan likely served as a "bonding device" because Punch is only six months old. This is an age when baby orangutans still need their mother's care and nursing. She states that the other orangutans' behavior towards Punch "is not bullying or unusual, but normal social interaction."
According to expert Alison, if Punch the monkey lacks a mother's presence during its early life, it may not develop the appropriate submissive responses to show weakness in the face of dominant individuals. This could have long-term consequences for how the monkey integrates into the troop as an adult.