Baby macaque Punch charms visitors with his orangutan stuffed toy.. Abandoned by his mother but finding comfort.. Slowly learning to join the monkey troop..
ICHIKAWA: In a Tokyo suburb, a zoo has a new attraction in its monkey house.. Thanks to Punch, a baby Japanese macaque, and his constant companion, an orangutan stuffed animal named Punch.. Punch’s mother abandoned the baby macaque seven months ago at the Ichikawa City Zoo.. But when a witness called zoo authorities, they took quick action.. Japanese baby macaques usually hold on to their mothers to develop muscle strength and feel secure.. So Punch required a quick fix, according to zookeeper Kosuke Shikano.
“This is a stuffed animal with relatively long hair and a few easy spots to grab it,” Shikano explained. “We thought that because it looked like a monkey, it might help Punch get back into the troop later, so we picked it.”
Punch has been seen without the stuffed animal only once since then, dragging it along with him even though it is larger than he is, much to the delight of fans who have poured into the zoo since videos of the two went viral.
“Watching Punch on the internet, abandoned by his parents but still trying so hard, really touched me,” said 26-year-old nurse Miyu Igarashi. “So when I met up with a friend today, I suggested we go see Punch.”
Shikano believes that Punch’s mother left him alone because of the scorching heat in July when Punch was born.
Punch has had some issues with the other monkeys because he has been trying to communicate with them, but according to zoo officials, this is part of the learning process and he is slowly being accepted by the troop.
“I think there will come a day when he no longer needs his stuffed toy,” Shikano said.
For more details please visit
https://pakithub.net/