A zoo is speaking out over claims that a viral baby monkey named Punch is being bullied. The Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Japan denied these claims but addressed concerns.
They referenced a video showing an adult monkey dragging Punch.
"Although Punch has been scolded many times by other monkeys, no single monkey has shown serious aggression toward him," the zoo said when previously addressing the incident. "When you observe these disciplinary behaviors from other troop members toward Punch when he tries to communicate with them, we would like you to support Punch's effort rather than feel sorry for him."
According to the zoo, Japanese macaques "follow a strict hierarchical society, and dominant individuals show 'disciplining actions' toward their subordinates." Basically, the monkeys don't care if Punch is a viral celebrity or not.
Punch the Monkey
"These behaviors differ from human 'abuses,' " the zoo wrote. According to the zoo, other monkeys have disciplined Punch but not singled him out. Apparently, the baby monkey got out of line. "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."
However, the zoo chose to remove some monkeys that appeared more aggressive temporarily. The zoo also says that workers check the monkeys every day.
"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 added.
"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," the zoo explained. "We share your concerns about Punch, and all the zookeepers and staff will continue to work together to ensure that Punch can continue to live a healthy life as part of this troop of monkeys."
