{"id":300763,"date":"2026-02-25T02:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/300763\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:50:08","slug":"abandoned-baby-monkey-goes-viral-experts-explain-punch-the-macaques-struggle-for-acceptance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/300763\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned baby monkey goes viral: Experts explain Punch the macaque\u2019s struggle for acceptance"},"content":{"rendered":"

However, these hopes were shaken this week after footage emerged showing an adult monkey aggressively dragging Punch by the neck around the enclosure floor, according to People.<\/p>\n

In the video, a distressed Punch is seen breaking free and bounding over rocks to reunite with his toy, known as Ora-mama.<\/p>\n

\"FootageFootage of Punch the monkey being aggressively dragged by an adult monkey upset fans of the young primate. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

The zoo later said the adult monkey involved was likely the parent of another juvenile Punch had been trying to interact with, People reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe probably felt that her baby was annoyed by Punch and got upset,\u201d the zoo said, adding that while Punch had been \u201dscolded many times” by other monkeys, none had shown sustained or serious aggression toward him.<\/p>\n

Now, animal experts are weighing in, offering possible explanations for why Punch has struggled socially, and why some interactions may appear like bullying.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dr Emily Bethell said Japanese macaques are \u201chighly social primates\u201d with a strong interest in their infants.<\/p>\n

Bethell is an associate professor of primate cognition and welfare at Liverpool John Moores University.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn abandoned youngster would be of interest to other macaques who might want to handle him, and there may be conflict over who gets hold of him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis can result in youngsters being handled quite roughly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FansFans flocked to Ichikawa City Zoo to see Punch the monkey and his beloved orangutan soft toy. Photo \/ @ichikawa_zoo<\/p>\n

Primatologist at Durham University, Professor Jo Setchell told the Daily Mail being abandoned early in life likely left Punch at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have read that Punch was his mother\u2019s first baby, in which case she might not have had a great deal of experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Setchell added Punch was born during a heatwave, which may have led his mother to \u201cprioritise her own survival and her future offspring over caring for a baby that is unlikely to survive the current conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, these hopes were shaken this week after footage emerged showing an adult monkey aggressively dragging Punch by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[31389,132843,6449,165149,6794,15316,5658,9827,2082,5275,105201,108007,31928,6178,111,139,69,193,101263,2081,5659,147,100396,7235,666,153565,223,5143,406,102],"class_list":["post-300763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-abandoned","tag-acceptance","tag-accepted","tag-adorable","tag-baby","tag-birth","tag-experts","tag-explain","tag-for","tag-goes","tag-macaques","tag-monkey","tag-monkeys","tag-mother","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-other","tag-punch","tag-raised","tag-say","tag-science","tag-soft","tag-struggle","tag-struggling","tag-surrogate","tag-the","tag-viral","tag-wildlife","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}