The Japanese zoo housing Punch, the baby monkey turned viral internet sensation, insists that he is not being bullied after concerns were raised online.
Punch, a seven-month-old macaque abandoned by his mother, gained global attention after he was seen clinging to a plush orangutan toy from IKEA at the Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo. He was seen in videos being chased away by other monkeys but was eventually taken in by a troop and cared for.
Afterwards, in February, the zoo said that Punch “had been scolded many times by other monkeys” but none had “shown serious aggression towards him”.
However, more videos showing him being chased by the troop circulated online, sparking concern about continued bullying.
In a statement on 10 March, the zoo said that it had received “many voices of concern from people both in Japan and overseas” about the baby monkey.
“First, Japanese macaques follow a strict hierarchical society and dominant individuals show ‘disciplining actions’ toward their subordinates. These behaviours differ from human ‘abuses’. Japanese primatologists have been studying the behaviour, society, and ecology of Japan’s native monkeys since 1948. Based on the existing literature, this ‘discipline’ occurs naturally in Japanese macaque groups and is not limited to Punch’s group,” it said.
The zoo added that Punch was spending “most of the day peacefully” and the “disciplining actions” against him did not occur incessantly.
“The number of monkeys who look after or play with Punch is also increasing. Because of this, the time Punch spends away from his stuffed toy has increased.”
“A few high-ranking macaques demonstrated aggression more frequently,” the zoo noted, but they were removed from the troop on March 8 “as a temporary measure”. They would be monitored for some time.
“At this time, there has been no evidence that Punch has been attacked in a way that would threaten his survival. Furthermore, we have no intention of ignoring the ‘discipline’ or altering our care in order to attract sympathy from people and thereby increase the number of visitors to our zoo or increase profits,” the zoo said.
It noted that some people had urged them to separate Punch from the troop. “This sentiment is completely understandable. However, Punch has become accustomed to living in this troop, so separating him now would create the risk that he would never be able to return to the group and would have to continue living that way for the rest of his life,” it said.
Animal rights group PETA previously criticised the treatment of Punch, arguing that it was evidence of “the cruelty of zoos”.
In a statement, PETA criticised what people had described as “cute” and “heart-warming”, saying it instead showed an animal coping with “isolation and loss”.
“Zoos are not sanctuaries,” Jason Baker, the Asia president for PETA, noted, “they are places where animals are confined, deprived of autonomy, and denied the complex environments and social lives they would have in the wild”.
“Internet fame does not change the reality of captivity. It only fuels a cycle in which facilities breed and display babies to drive ticket sales, while the animals pay the lifelong price.”
