Six-month-old Punch was introduced to other monkeys, and it seemed he finally found a friend.
However, an incident soon occurred: an adult monkey attacked Punch while he was peacefully sitting and eating.
The monkey grabbed him and started dragging him across the ground, but fortunately, the little one managed to break free and hurried to his only source of comfort – a plush orangutan that was given to him instead of a mother. Holding the toy, Punch was able to calm down a bit.
The baby was born at the Ikikawa Zoo in Japan, but shortly after his birth, his mother abandoned him, and the staff began to raise him. The warmth and care he lacked from his mother were replaced by the soft orangutan, which he never parts with. When Punch was transferred to the general enclosure, he faced aggression from his peers, but over time, some of them began to show him care. Research shows that cases of mothers abandoning their offspring are not uncommon: up to 7-8% of Japanese macaques leave their babies. This most often occurs with first-time mothers who, due to inexperience or stress, may abandon their young. The likelihood of a mother rejecting her baby is also higher among macaques that are at a low level in the hierarchy. The attacks from other monkeys are likely related to the fact that no one is protecting Punch.
